The Netherlands summoned the Russian ambassador because of Russiaʼs reaction to the court verdict regarding MH17

The Netherlands summoned the Russian ambassador due to the official reaction of the Russian Federation to the court verdict regarding the downing of flight MH17. Russia stated that the court "disregarded the principles of impartiality."

Deutsche Welle writes about it.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation stated that "the verdict was based on a political order." The court allegedly "was under unprecedented pressure from Dutch politicians, representatives of the prosecutorʼs office and the media," and therefore "disregarded the principles of impartial justice."

"Russia itself violates international laws in every way. We cannot allow this to happen and must show that we respect the rule of law and have an independent judiciary," the Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra noted.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands emphasized that the Russians are trying to "discredit the Dutch constitutional state."

• The passenger plane of the Malaysia Airlines company, operating flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down on July 17, 2014 by a Russian-made Buk anti-aircraft missile system. It happened near the occupied Torez of the Donetsk region. 298 people died. Russia, like the convicts, denies its involvement in the disaster.
• The District Court of The Hague, which considered the case of the downing of the airliner MH17 in 2014, found Ihor Girkin (call sign "Strelok" ["Shooter"]), his subordinates Serhiy Dubinskyi (call sign "Khmuryi" ["Frowning"]) and Leonid Kharchenko (call sign "Krot" ["Mole"]) guilty of destroying the flight. Oleg Pulatov (call sign "Gyurza") was acquitted.