Vladimir Putin exempt from prosecution over MH17 missile as probe ends after nine years

Vladimir Putin has immunity from prosecution over any involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17, joint investigators declare as they end their nine-year probe.

The wreckage of flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Picture: AFP

Vladimir Putin is exempt from prosecution over any involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 because he has immunity as a head of state, joint investigators declared on Wednesday, at the same time announcing the suspension of their work.

Dutch prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer said there were “strong indications” that the Russian president was involved in the decision making that led to a Buk missile being fired at the commercial Boeing aircraft on July 17, 2014, resulting in the deaths of all 298 people on board including 38 Australians.

But Ms van Boetzelaer said “we do have strong indications about Putin’s decision making (in the deployment of the BUK), but we do not reach the high bar (of having sufficient evidence for prosecution).

“At this moment he is still head of state and he has an immunity, so only after he is not head of state can we look into what’s next, step by step.’’

But Ms van Boetzelaer told the press conference in The Hague that the JIT - the investigation team of The Netherlands, Australia, Ukraine, Malaysia and Belgium - had now reached its investigative limit.

“All leads have been exhausted, our findings are insufficient for the prosecution of new suspects, ‘’ she said.

The suspension of the JIT work, and the inability to advance further prosecutions will come as a heavy blow to the victim’s families.

Only late last year officials indicated they would continue with a new round of prosecutions after successfully prosecuting three of the Russian separatists senior commanders.

In the long running MH17 court hearing, judges had ruled that there was evidence the separatists had direct communication with “Moscow” and “the Kremlin” and Russia had provided arms, money and military grade weapons and co-ordinated and instructed the militant commanders. This had led to expectations that the prosecutors may pursue the crew members of the BUK and Russian links to the Kremlin.

Back in November the Dutch judges had handed down life sentences to three of the Russian separatists found guilty in absentia of mass murder, by the “grotesque” and “cruel” downing of the plane.

But Igor Girkin, the former colonel in the Russian FSB and commander of the army in the DPR; his deputy and a former Russian intelligence officer with the GRU Sergey Dubinsky; and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko, who was charged with escorting and guarding the BUK-telar, are unlikely to face time behind bars because there is no extradition treaty with Russia.

In The Hague the Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner David McLean said family members were told of the suspension of the investigation and were “disappointed, and that is entirely understandable’’.

AFP assistant commissioner David McLean at MH17 press conference in The Hague.

But he added: “we can be proud, if not a little exhausted ourselves after eight and a half years chasing rabbits down burrows, we have done what we can to reasonably explore who was responsible and what happened and who was responsible’’.

In an 80-page report of their eight years of investigations, the JIT said that in intercepted conversations from early June 2014, participants stated that the decision to provide more far-reaching military support to the contest Donbas region of the Donetsk Peoples Republic and Luhansk Peoples republic lay with Mr Putin.

The report says: “In addition, specific information was found that a request to provide separatists with heavier anti- aircraft systems had been submitted to Putin. Other sources as well point to the Russian president’s personal involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, mainly in a behind-the-scenes capacity”. The JIT said it had evidence Putin wanted to be briefed in detail about the operations in Donetsk and Luhansk including in June,2014, just weeks before the MH17 catastrophe where Putin discussed the downing of a Ukrainian helicopter.

At that time Mr Putin even had a meeting with the Security Council devoted to the situation in Ukraine.

In a dramatic moment on Wednesday, the investigators played an intercepted phone conversation between Mr Putin and separatist commanders to illustrate his interest in the war, but this was recorded three years after MH17 was blasted out of the sky.

The JIT detailed how the BUK was under the command of the 53rd brigade Colonel Sergei Muchkaev, who reported to the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces and Russian minister of defence Sergei Shoigu. Both Muchkaev and Shoigu were subordinate to Mr Putin.

The report said that in the second half of June 2014 a meeting at the Presidential Executive office in Moscow discussed providing the “peoples army in Donbas” with heaver anti aircraft systems such as an s-200 or a Buk system.

The report says: “At this meeting a written resolution was adopted to submit the request for heavier anti aircraft systems to Shoigu and President Putin, the request was granted. It was not known if a BUK system was specifically mentioned in this request .’’

As regards the crew members inside the BUK who pressed the button, the JIT said it had looked at 193 military personnel deployed to the 53rd in the border region, and ascertained that 35 were considered capable of operating a BUK.

During their investigations it emerged three names of officers may have been involvd in operating the BUK .

“However to date the investigation has not been able to find any further confirmation of this’’ the report says.

Assistant Commissioner McLean said the fact that prosecutors are still pursuing the Lockerbie bombing 34 years after that disaster should be “encouraging” to the families.

He said: “Whether it is a year from now or 10 years from now, … that somehow somewhere we get that piece of information that we need, we can resolve the matter with hopefully some finality.’