THE HAGUE – A lawyer for relatives of people killed in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine told a court hearing Thursday that 290 relatives and partners of the victims have filed compensation claims for “emotional distress" against the four suspects charged in the downing.
Lawyer Arlette Schijns was speaking at a preliminary hearing in the long-running legal proceedings against three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with involvement in shooting down the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight on July 17, 2014.
All 298 people on board the Boeing 777 were killed. None of the suspects have appeared in court and the case is proceeding in their absence. “No compensation can offset the losses suffered by relatives.