World

A Dutch court on Thursday sentenced three men to life imprisonment over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, in the early stages of a war that eight years later would put the world on edge.

Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko were found guilty in absentia of murdering all 298 people on board and of bringing down the Boeing 777 with a Russian-supplied missile. A fourth man was acquitted.

Moscow slammed the “scandalous” verdict as politically motivated, while Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky — battling a full-scale Russian invasion after years of low-level fighting in the east — praised it as “important”.

Relatives of MH17 victims blinked away tears as the verdicts were read out in a courtroom packed with families who had travelled from around the world for the end of the two-and-a-half-year trial.

“The court calls the proven charges so severe that it holds that only the highest possible prison sentence would be appropriate,” head judge Hendrik Steenhuis said.

“Imposing these sentences cannot take away the pain and suffering, but there’s hope that today clarity has been provided about who is to blame.”

But none of the suspects was at the high-security court on the outskirts of Schiphol Airport, where the doomed plane took off, after Russia refused to extradite them.

Australia accused Moscow on Friday of “harbouring murderers”.

“We call on Russia to surrender those convicted so they may face the court’s sentence for their heinous crimes,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.

– ‘Justice has spoken’ –

The trial represents the end of a long search for justice for the victims of the disaster, who came from 10 countries, including 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australians.

“Justice has spoken. We wanted justice to be done and that happened, in a very well-balanced verdict,” Piet Ploeg, chairman of the MH17 foundation, who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew, told AFP.

“The role of Russia has been very clearly confirmed by the court.”

Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was cruising at 33,000 feet (10,000 metres) over war-torn eastern Ukraine when a BUK missile exploded near the cockpit on July 17, 2014, tearing the plane apart.

The crash triggered global outrage and sanctions against Moscow, with Ukraine’s famed sunflower fields littered with bodies and wreckage. Some victims, including children, were still strapped into their seats.

Judges found Girkin, Dubinsky and Kharchenko could all be held responsible for the transport of the missile from a military base in Russia and deploying it to the launch site — even if they did not pull the trigger.

There was not enough evidence to show the involvement of Oleg Pulatov, the only suspect to have legal representation during the trial, they said.

All the suspects were members of the Donetsk People’s Republic, an armed group fighting Ukraine’s government that judges ruled was directly controlled by Russia.

– ‘Ample evidence’ –

Girkin, 51, a former Russian spy who became the so-called defence minister of the DPR, was in regular contact with Moscow, particularly over the return of the missile after the tragedy, the court ruled.

Kharchenko, 50, who allegedly led a separatist unit, received direct orders from Dubinsky, 60, who has also been tied to Russian intelligence, to escort the missile to the final launch site, the court ruled.

The defendants had apparently intended to shoot down a Ukrainian military plane rather than a civilian jet but that did not affect their guilt, the judges said.

Russia’s continued denials that it controlled the DPR meanwhile meant the defendants could not claim immunity from prosecution as formal combatants, they added.

The court ruled there was “ample evidence” to show the plane was brought down by the missile, and ruled out “alternative scenarios” suggested by the defence, including that it was shot down by a Ukrainian fighter jet.

The BUK missile had been identified as coming from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade from Kursk in Russia, prosecutors said.

– ‘Unprecedented pressure’ –

Moscow has denied all involvement in the crash, and on Thursday it accused the Dutch court of giving its verdict under “unprecedented pressure” from politicians and the media.

The Russian foreign ministry said the trial could go down in history as “one of the most scandalous in the history of legal proceedings with its extensive list of oddities, inconsistencies and dubious arguments of the prosecution”.

Ukraine’s Zelensky said on Twitter that “holding the instigators to account is crucial too because a sense of impunity leads to new crimes”.

The United States welcomed the verdict as “an important moment in ongoing efforts to deliver justice for the 298 individuals who lost their lives”.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the convictions were “not the end”, while NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg they were an “important day for justice and accountability”.

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A global wildlife summit in Panama took an important step Thursday towards upgrading protection for sharks, the ancient ocean vertebrates targeted for their fins used in a status-symbol soup.

A committee voted to approve a proposal to include Requiem and Hammerhead sharks on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).  

The appendix lists species that may not yet be threatened with extinction but may become so unless their trade is closely controlled.  

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), advocating for the sharks’ inclusion on the appendix, says the Requiem shark family makes up at least 70 percent of the fin trade.

According to Luke Warwick of the Wildlife Conservation Society, “we are in the middle of a very large shark extinction crisis.” 

He said sharks, which are vital to the ocean’s ecosystem, are “the second most threatened vertebrate group on the planet.” 

Shark fins — which represent a market of some $500 million per year — can sell for about $1,000 a kilogram in East Asia for use in shark fin soup, a delicacy.  

The Requiem shark family includes species such as the Tiger shark, Silky shark and Grey Reef shark.  

Also before the CITES gathering underway in Panama City, is the inclusion on Appendix II of freshwater stingrays and Guitarfish, among other species. 

The conference is considering 52 proposals to amend protection levels for species that also include crocodiles, lizards, snakes, freshwater turtles and several species of plants and trees.

A final decision will be taken at the closing meeting of the CITES conference of parties (COP-19) on November 25.  

CITES, in force since 1975, regulates trade in some 36,000 species of plants and animals and provides mechanisms to help crack down on illegal commerce. 

It sanctions countries that break the rules. Its members are 183 countries and the European Union.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the trailblazing first woman to wield the speaker’s gavel in the US House of Representatives, said Thursday that she will step down as party leader when Republicans take control of the chamber in January.

“I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” Pelosi said in an emotional speech on the House floor. “The hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus.”

The 82-year-old Pelosi’s departure from party leadership marks the end of an era in Washington and comes after Republicans secured a slim House majority in last week’s midterm elections.

Democratic President Joe Biden hailed Pelosi as a “fierce defender of democracy” and the “most consequential” House speaker in US history.

“Because of Nancy Pelosi, the lives of millions and millions of Americans are better, even in districts represented by Republicans who voted against her bills and too often vilify her,” Biden said in a statement.

“History will also note her fierceness and resolve to protect our democracy from the violent, deadly insurrection of January 6,” when supporters of former president Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol, he said.

Former president Barack Obama also hailed the woman he called “one of the most accomplished legislators in American history.”

“I couldn’t be more grateful for her friendship and leadership,” he tweeted.

Elected to Congress in 1987, Pelosi became speaker in 2007, the first and so far only woman ever to hold the powerful post. 

Known for keeping a tight grip on party ranks, she presided over both impeachments of Trump during her second stint in the role.

– ‘G.O.A.T.’ –

Currently second in the presidential line of succession, after Vice President Kamala Harris, Pelosi said last week that a decision on her future would be influenced by the brutal attack on her husband in the runup to the November 8 midterms.

Paul Pelosi, who is also 82, was left hospitalized with serious injuries after an intruder looking for the speaker broke into their California home and attacked him with a hammer.

In her speech, which was met with a standing ovation from Democratic lawmakers, Pelosi recounted her first glimpse of the Capitol when she was six years old and her path from “homemaker to House speaker.” 

She praised her party’s better-than-expected performance in the midterm contest as a victory for democracy.

“Last week, the American people spoke and their voices were raised in defense of liberty, of the rule of law and of democracy itself,” she said.

With Pelosi stepping down from leadership, and fellow octogenarians Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn, the number two and three Democrats, signalling they will do the same, the party is on the cusp of a generational shift.

New York lawmaker Hakeem Jeffries, 52, who is expected to become Democratic minority leader in the next House, called Pelosi the “G.O.A.T.” — a sports reference to the Greatest of All Time.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said she “made our country a much better place for countless women and girls.”

“Nancy Pelosi was the one to blaze the trail,” he added.

Pelosi’s announcement met with a far different reaction on the Republican side of the aisle and many GOP lawmakers did not show up for her speech. 

“The Pelosi era is over. Good riddance!” tweeted Colorado lawmaker Lauren Boebert.

– Divided Congress –

Kevin McCarthy, a 57-year-old Republican lawmaker from California, is lobbying to take over the speaker’s gavel from Pelosi in the Republican-majority House.

McCarthy won a party leadership vote by secret ballot Tuesday but potential far-right defections could yet complicate his path when the House’s 435 newly elected members — Democrats and Republicans — choose a new speaker in January.

On Thursday, House Republicans signaled they would wield their new power to make the president’s life difficult with aggressive committee investigations.

“We will be prepared to hold the Biden administration accountable from day one,” McCarthy said. “Our investigations are just getting started.”

With inflation surging and Biden’s popularity ratings cratering, Republicans had hoped to see a “red wave” sweep over America in the midterms, giving them control of both chambers of Congress and a block over most of Biden’s legislative plans.

But instead, Democratic voters — galvanized by the Supreme Court’s overturning of abortion rights and wary of Trump-endorsed candidates who openly rejected the result of the 2020 presidential election — turned out in force.

Biden’s party secured an unassailable majority in the Senate with 50 seats plus Harris’ tie-breaking vote, and a runoff in Georgia next month could yet see the Democrats improve their majority in the upper house.

Fresh Russian strikes hit cities across Ukraine on Thursday, the latest in a wave of attacks that have crippled the country’s energy infrastructure as winter sets in and temperatures drop.

Repeated barrages have disrupted electricity and water supplies to millions of Ukrainians, but the Kremlin blamed civilians’ suffering on Kyiv’s refusal to negotiate, rather than on Russian attacks.

AFP journalists in several Ukrainian cities said the latest strikes coincided with the first snow this season, after officials in Kyiv warned of “difficult” days ahead.

The capital’s regional administration said, “Four missiles and five Shahed drones were shot down over Kyiv,” referring to Iranian-made suicide drones Moscow has been deploying in swarms against Ukraine targets.

The salvoes also came as Moscow and Kyiv confirmed the extension of an agreement allowing Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea, which aims to help ease pressure on the global supply of food.

Ukraine has faced a series of strikes against its power grid following battlefield victories against Russia, the latest being Moscow’s retreat from the southern city of Kherson.

Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubynets on Thursday described the scale of torture uncovered in Kherson as “horrific”.

Since the Russians retreated last week following eight months of occupation, chilling accounts have started to emerge from Kherson.

Lubynets said the authorities had found “torture chambers” where dozens of people had been abused and killed.

On Thursday, Kherson residents were scrambling to stockpile aid such as food, blankets, diapers and winter clothing, with shouting matches and shoving erupting as volunteers tossed supplies into the crowds waiting for hours in freezing rain.

An earlier stage of the conflict engulfing the nation saw Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 brought down over Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

A Dutch court on Thursday sentenced two Russians and a Ukrainian to life in prison over the plane’s downing with a Russian-supplied missile, but none of the suspects were in court.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the “important” ruling but said the people ultimately responsible must be brought to justice too.

Moscow dismissed the ruling as politically motivated from a court under “unprecedented pressure”.

The trial in the Netherlands could go down in history as “one of the most scandalous in the history of legal proceedings”, the foreign ministry said.

– ‘Difficult situation’ –

As Russia pursues the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the head of the central region of Dnipropetrovsk, Valentyn Reznichenko, said strikes had hit the administrative centre of Dnipro. 

“An industrial enterprise has been hit. There is a big fire,” he said, later announcing that 23 people were injured, including a 15-year-old girl.

In the southern Odessa region, a Russian strike targeted infrastructure and the governor warned residents of the threat of a “massive” missile attack, urging them to seek shelter.

The eastern region of Kharkiv was also struck, governor Oleg Synegubov announced, adding that Russia hit “critical infrastructure” in strikes that injured at least three people.

Zelensky in response described Russia as a “terrorist state” and said Moscow “wants to bring Ukrainians only more pain and suffering”.

The Kremlin, however, said ultimately Kyiv was to blame for the fallout from the blackouts.

“The unwillingness of the Ukrainian side to settle the problem, to start negotiations, its refusal to seek common ground — this is their consequence,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The largest wave of Russian missiles on cities across Ukraine earlier this week cut power to millions of homes, but supplies were largely restored within hours.

But Ukrainian energy company Ukrenergo said Thursday that the “cold snap” had brought increased demand in regions where electricity was recently restored, and Zelensky said more than 10 million people were without power after the fresh wave of strikes.

“We are doing everything to normalise the supply,” Zelensky added.

Government energy adviser Oleksandr Kharchenko told media that 50 percent of Ukrainians were experiencing disruptions.

– ‘Russia bears full responsibility’ –

Tensions spiked earlier this week after a missile landed in a Polish town on the border with Ukraine, and there was a flurry of accusations over who was responsible for the blast that killed two.

Zelensky, after previously saying a Russian missile was to blame, seemed to soften his comments on the incident that raised fears of a dangerous escalation.

“I don’t know what happened. We don’t know for sure. The world does not know,” Zelensky said.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also appeared to roll back Kyiv’s position that it was a Russian missile that struck Poland following a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“Our experts are already in Poland,” Kuleba tweeted. “We expect them to swiftly get access to the site in cooperation with Polish law enforcement.”

Canadian federal police said Thursday they have charged a man in Quebec province for allegedly plotting to sow violence in Haiti and overthrow its government.

Gerald Nicolas, a 51-year-old resident of Levis, Quebec, is alleged to have “planned a terrorist act to overthrow the Haitian government of Jovenel Moise,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in a statement.

The RCMP said an investigation started in July 2021 revealed that Nicolas actively planned “to stage an armed revolution in Haiti and ultimately seize power.”

Those “concrete actions,” it said, included traveling to Haiti to coordinate a group that was to take part in the coup.

The RCMP noted, however, that the plot was unrelated to the assassination of Moise, who was shot dead in his bedroom by a commando group at his Port-au-Prince house in July 2021.

Police Sergeant Charles Poirier told AFP the RCMP had been alerted about the suspect’s “suspicious activity” by local authorities, and that led to Nicolas’s arrest in November 2021 and a search of his home.

He was subsequently released as the investigation continued.

In addition to going to Haiti, Nicolas “visited multiple countries in South and Central America to recruit fighters, and secure financing and weapons,” Poirier said.

“However, he was unsuccessful in acquiring those weapons,” he added.

No further information was immediately available about Nicolas’s alleged motives in wanting to topple the Haitian government.

The close timing of his alleged coup plot and Moise’s assassination “might be a coincidence,” said Poirier, adding that police found “no evidence to suggest a link between the two.”

Haitian police had quickly arrested about 20 people at the time of Moise’s murder, including 18 former Colombian soldiers presumed to be hired as mercenaries.

But their investigation has since stalled.

In a telephone interview with AFP, Nicolas categorically denied the accusations levelled against him, saying they were orchestrated by a jilted lover as “revenge” for breaking up with her.

She went to police “and made up a whole story that I was a terrorist,” he said.

Nicolas said he had created a Facebook page, which has since been taken down, encouraging Haitians “to take matters into their own hands” and not wait for Western nations “to come and solve their problems.”

But he insisted it was in no way nefarious. “I never wanted to hurt anyone,” he said. “There is no terrorist group.”

The Caribbean island nation’s presidency has been vacant since Moise’s death, with no date set for a vote to fill the office.

Haiti is now gripped by instability provoked by armed gangs terrorizing the population, and is again dealing with a cholera outbreak — after stamping out a previous epidemic of the diarrheal disease that killed more than 10,000.

Nicolas is scheduled to appear in a Canadian court on December 1 to face charges of funding and facilitating terrorist activity, and travelling abroad to do so.

His lawyer Tiago Murias said Nicolas will plead not guilty.

A large fire that ripped through a home north of Gaza City where fuel was being stored killed at least 21 people including seven children on Thursday, official and medical sources said. 

Hamas Islamists, who control the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian enclave, said firefighters had managed to contain the blaze in Jabalia that left charred walls and mounds of black soot before being put out. 

Gaza’s civil defence unit confirmed in a statement that 21 people had been killed. 

The head of the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia, Saleh Abu Laila, told AFP that the facility had received the bodies of at least seven children. 

While the cause of the fire remained unknown, a spokesman for the civil defence unit told AFP that supplies of fuel were stored in the house.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank — a separate Palestinian territory — considered the fire “a national tragedy”, his spokesman said. 

Abbas declared a day of mourning on Friday, with flags to be flown at half-mast, and offered to send aid to families of the victims to “ease their suffering”, spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement. 

Senior PA official Hussein Al Sheikh urged Israel to open the Erez crossing that connects Gaza with southern Israel and is normally closed at night. 

This would allow the transport of critically-hurt patients “in order to treat them outside the Gaza Strip if necessary”, Al Sheikh said.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz tweeted that his staff would assist with “humanitarian evacuations of the injured to (Israeli) hospitals”, expressing sympathy for the “serious disaster” in Gaza. 

– Blazes are common –

A large crowd of onlookers gathered on the street outside the multi-storey home as the blaze raged, sending plumes of smoke billowing out the top of the concrete building. 

Jabalia is a refugee camp, but like many such Palestinians camps, now includes large buildings and in many respects resembles a city. 

Crowds remained on the street, with hundreds of police and emergency response workers on hand, after the blaze had been extinguished. 

Gaza, densely populated with 2.3 million people, has been under Israeli blockade since 2007, a measure Israel says is necessary to contain threats from armed groups in the strip. 

With electricity supply sparse in the impoverished territory, domestic blazes are common, as Gazans seek alternative sources for cooking and light, including kerosene lamps. 

This year Gaza received an average of 12 hours of mains electricity daily, up from just seven hours five years ago, according to United Nations data.

New dangers arise in the winter when many people burn coal for heat.

Hamas said an investigation was underway to determine the cause.