The first two days in the trial of three Russians and a Ukrainian over the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over Ukraine on July 17, 2014, have demonstrated just how incriminating the proceedings will be for Russia. The latter’s track record of state-organized killings in Qatar, the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey and Bulgaria was cited as one of the reasons why certain witnesses’ identity must be kept secret, with the need for such protection having been recognized by the examining magistrate.
Such witnesses include the person identified as M58 who “has stated that Russian military personnel, whom the DPR fighters said were from the FSB, were with the Buk TELAR at the launch site.” Witness S24 was said to have expressed fear of reprisals by the Russian Federation, of being killed “so as to prevent the truth from coming out.”