Tag Archives: Murder trial

Bitter week for families as evidence to be read in MH17 airliner trial

By Stephanie van den Berg

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Judges in the Netherlands will begin reading out the evidence this week in the murder trial against four fugitive suspects accused of shooting down a Malaysian airliner over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in 2014 and killing 298 people in 2014.

Victims’ relatives said they were expecting the testimony to bring up painful memories, but that they were grateful for a chance to hear at last what had happened aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

The flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in a field in territory held by pro-Russian separatists fighting against Ukrainian forces, after being shot down with what international investigators say was a Russian surface-to-air missile.

Three Russians and a Ukrainian citizen, all suspected of having key roles in the separatist forces, are on trial for murder. Moscow has refused to extradite those in Russia.

One of the Russians is mounting a defense from abroad and denies blame, while the others have not appointed lawyers and are not participating.

“It is a very difficult day for us. It is now the first day of the prosecution, and that is difficult for us,” Evert van Zijtveld, who lost his two children Frederique and Robert-Jan and his wife’s parents, told journalists as he walked into court.

After a year of mostly procedural hearings, judges announced the start of the evidence phase on Monday. From Tuesday the judges will begin summarizing the evidence gathered by investigators in the case, and potentially calling witnesses.

Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said his panel would be looking specifically to determine what type of missile hit the airplane, where it was fired from and whether the four suspects can be held responsible.

“It is taking a long time but we want to know the truth. It is the only thing we can still do for the children,” said Rob Frederiksz, whose 23-year-old son Bryce died along with his girlfriend Daisy in the crash.

After years of collecting evidence, a team of international investigators concluded in May 2018 that the missile launcher used to shoot down the aircraft belonged to Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. The Dutch government holds Moscow responsible. Russia denies any involvement.

On Monday the Kremlin said it was following the trial and took note of “alternative information” that could lead to other explanations of the crash from the Dutch prosecutor’s main theory of the Russian-made missile fired by pro-Russian separatists.

“But again, because we are not part of the investigation, we cannot directly influence what is happening,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg, additional reporting by Dmitry Antonov and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber in Moscow ; Editing by Peter Graff)

Murder trial begins for former Dallas cop who shot black man in his own home

DALLAS (Reuters) – A former off-duty Dallas police officer faces trial on murder charges on Monday after she shot and killed a black neighbor last year in his apartment, saying she entered it by mistake and thought he was a burglar.

Then-officer Amber Guyger, who is white, has told investigators in Texas that she mistook Botham Jean, 26, who is black, for an intruder, after she mistakenly entered his central Dallas apartment one floor above hers and he appeared in the darkness.

The shooting, one of a series of high-profile killings of unarmed black men and teens by white U.S. police, sparked street protests, particularly because prosecutors initially moved to charge Guyger, 31, with manslaughter, a charge for killing without malice that carries a lesser sentence than murder.

In contrast to high-profile cases like the killings of Michael Brown in Missouri and Philando Castile in Minnesota, Guyger shot Jean, a PwC accountant, while she was off duty, rather than while responding to a reported crime.

The district attorney’s office reexamined the case after the protests and a grand jury in late November indicted the former police officer on murder, with the maximum punishment being life in prison.

She has remained free on bond.

Guyger, who had been on the force for over four years, walked into Jean’s apartment after returning from a work shift and was able to enter it because Jean’s door was slightly ajar, according to Texas law enforcement officials.

After the incident, she was initially placed on administrative leave but was fired days later, with the Dallas police chief citing her actions on the night she shot Jean and afterward.

District Judge Tammy Kemp has imposed a gag order in the criminal trial – meaning no one involved with the case can speak publicly about it.

Guyger’s defense had pushed for a change of venue, arguing in court last week that media coverage had been so intense their defendant could not get a fair trial, but Kemp denied that request.

Calls to Guyger’s defense attorney were not returned.

(Reporting by Bruce Tamaso in Dallas; Additional reporting and writing by Brad Brooks in Austin; Editing by Scott Malone and Bernadette Baum)