MH17: How they Mati Katak (died in vain) to be revealed, but not who did it?

MH17: How they Mati Katak (died in vain) to be revealed, but not who did it?

The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported that the the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on MH17 will release the results of its probe into the downing of the plane next Tuesday (Sept 27, 2016).

SMH said the investigators have pinpointed the exact site used to launch the missile that brought down the Malaysia Airlines plane that killed 298 passengers and crew — the majority of them Dutch.

It added that other details available show the investigators will identify the exact weapon used to shoot down MH17 but not the perpetrators behind it. Investigations into who launched the missile continue, and will be held in reserve, for a potential criminal trial.

So what kind of revelation or expose will the Mati Katak MH17 families get on Tuesday?

Absolutely nothing revealing. Absolutely nothing new. What the families of the MH17 victims want is the identity/identities of the mass murderers and to have them face justice.

And, due to international powers at play, the families of the MH17 victims may never get rightly what they want.

To date, according to an AFP news agency report on June 3, 2016, families of six MAS crew members who were killed when flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine more than two years ago filed a lawsuit, blaming Malaysia’s national air carrier for the tragedy.

The suit accuses the airline of negligence and breach of contract and is believed to be the first filed against the company over the 2014 disaster, said Balan Nair, a lawyer representing families of the six Malaysian crew members.

It comes two weeks after a suit by 33 next-of-kin from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia was filed against Russia and President Vladimir Putin in the European Court of Human Rights.

All 298 passengers and crew were killed when the Boeing 777 was hit by a Russian-made BUK anti-aircraft missile over war-torn eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.

Thursday’s filing in Malaysia blames the airline for the tragedy, saying it “dispatched and executed the MH17 flight over an area known to be under armed conflict, which posed an unreasonable risk of harm and death”.

Balan did not give a compensation amount being sought, saying that would be decided by the courts.

He said the airline had offered to settle for an undisclosed amount, but families rejected the proposed sum. He did not rule out an eventual out-of-court settlement.

Malaysia Airlines meanwhile said it is yet to be served with the mentioned suits and that the MH17 flight route complied with International Civil Aviation Organisation regulations.

Under the 1999 Montreal Convention, next-of-kin have until the second anniversary of an air disaster to file lawsuits against the carrier involved.

MAS is already facing lawsuits by scores of families over the disappearance of MH370 and could face legal action from more MH17 next-of-kin.

MH370 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 — just four months before the MH17 tragedy — with 239 passengers and crew aboard.

Here’s the SMH report as reproduced by online news portal Free Malaysia Today:

"Probe team to release MH17 Report next Tuesday

FMT Reporters

| September 20, 2016

The investigators have pinpointed the exact site used to launch the missile that brought down the plane.


KUALA LUMPUR: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on MH17 will release the results of its probe into the downing of the plane next Tuesday, according to the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).

Briefly, according to SMH, the investigators have pinpointed the exact site used to launch the missile that brought down the Malaysia Airlines plane.

Other details available show the investigators will identify the exact weapon used to shoot down MH17 but not the perpetrators behind it. Investigations into who launched the missile continue, and will be held in reserve, for a potential criminal trial.

Leaders and Foreign Ministers from several countries, including Australia, will discuss the potential criminal trial when they gather this week in New York for the UN General Assembly.

Any move for UN action on MH17 faces the threat of a Russian veto in the UN Security Council. However, it’s learnt that Australia and the UK among several countries have discussed alternatives.

The JIT, comprising experts from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Netherlands and Ukraine, will first brief the families of the 298 people killed in the 17 July 2014 shooting down of the plane.

This would be followed by a media briefing.

The Dutch Safety Board (DSB) said in a report last year that MH17 was hit by a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile. Among the dead were 38 Australian citizens or permanent residents and 15 crew members.

The missile hit the aircraft above the left side of the cockpit, according to computer simulations and forensic analysis of the plane’s wreckage. The plane disintegrated in mid-air as thousands of metal fragments penetrated it.

The DSB Report narrowed the launch site to a 320 sq km area in eastern Ukraine. It said more exact details was beyond its mandate.

The DSB dismissed Russian objections and maintained its findings. Moscow claimed the damage suffered by the plane did not tally with the weapon the DSB had indentified.

Open-source investigators, Bellingcat, have since claimed the Russians used “fake evidence” to shift the blame for the aircrash. This included “doctored” satellite images.

Bellingcat concluded the missile which hit MH17 was fired from a field south of Snizhne, a town in eastern Ukraine. The missile, a Buk, entered eastern Ukraine from Russia in late June 2014, according to Bellingcat."