Wow … Dutch investigative reporters have begun double-checking the arguments PM Rutte voiced to delay start of investigation. Three months have lapsed and there has hardly been any investigation of the MH-17 crash site in Donetsk.
Well, should I just say … I told you so last July? My analysis of the white-wash and lack of interest by the US and Dutch government to safeguard the wreckage has now become clear to the Dutch news media. From the start, the US and Dutch have frustrated gaining evidence to find the culprits who are responsible in shooting down the Malaysian passenger liner, flight MH-17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Just a few days ago, Dutch investigators of the prosecution team complained they have not yet received the compelling evidence of US satellite images the White House used as “evidence” the rebels shot down the Malaysian airliner MH-17 with Russian support.
Tonight, Dutch television broadcast a documentary in Nieuwsuur with interviews with Dutch officials, responsible members of the junta in Kiev, Donetsk rebel leaders and the ambassador of Malaysia to The Netherlands. The Dutch government leadership of PM Mark Rutte and FM Timmermans have been lying through their teeth from the start. I do hope this story won’t go away and some serious questions will be asked ahead of a parliamentary debate in The Hague.
Here is the link to the media website and the report in Nieuwsuur, large parts are in the English language.
○ Dutch government and the MH-17 investigation plus video report.
More to follow as the morning papers will cover this story!
About Nieuwsuur report on MH-17 in Ukraine
As the Ukraine was concerned, the Netherlands could have direct negotiations with the rebels over access to the disaster area. So say several Ukrainian protagonists in the diplomatic negotiations after the disaster against Nieuwsuur. Netherlands has avoided all contact with the rebels as a principled issue.
“Moral obligation”
Ukraine questions the way the Netherlands acted in the first days after the disaster MH17. Kiev was not opposed to dialogue with the rebels on access to the disaster area, says Minister Pavlo Klimkin of Foreign Affairs: “We could not recognize Donetsk People’s Republic, but access to the crash site surely was not a political matter, it was a moral obligation.” And colonel and army spokesman Andrey Lysenko says: “The Dutch government should have done everything to get full information.”
“Come quickly”
The Dutch researchers came only two weeks after the crash at the crash site. The OSCE says in Nieuwsuur this was regrettable. “The first days were crucial: the crash site was vulnerable. Our message was: “Come as quickly as possible”, OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw says. He was on behalf of the OSCE as one of the first in the disaster area.
Direct contact
Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia negotiated it directly with the rebels, with the result that his country could quickly secure the black boxes. The government of President Poroshenko had no objection. “Malaysia even signed formal documents with the People’s Republic of Donetsk, but this had no political or legal consequences. If it works, we are OK with that,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Klimkin.
Frustration
The international research team, meanwhile, still has not investigated at the scene. Netherlands has recently retrievedadditional personal belongings of passengers MH17. In response, the Malaysian ambassador Fauziah Mohd Taib says in Netherlands that his country was not involved in that operation and reflects frustration. “We are, in spite of repeated requests from our side, not involved in the joint investigation team led by the Netherlands. And while it concernes our national airline and 43 Malaysian citizens. We want to do justice to the victims who perished in the disaster.”
- ○ Dutch FM: MH17 Passenger Found Wearing Oxygen Mask
○ Dutch PM Rutte Abruptly Calls-off MH-17 Recovery Mission