DISINFO: Kremlin has nothing to do with an MH17 suspect
SUMMARY
Dutch prosecutors falsely claim that the Russian authorities had allegedly allowed Volodymyr Tsemakh to leave the country. The Kremlin has nothing to do with any of these.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the downing of Flight MH17 and the Joint International Investigation. Russian officials often claim that there is no evidence of Russia's involvement in the MH17 downing. The disinformation message follows the announcement of the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service that Russia willingly allowed Mr Tsemakh, a suspect in the MH17 case, to leave the Russian Federation and refused to execute the Dutch request for extradition. Tsemakh was supposed to stand trial in October 2019 in Ukraine but was released by the court in September 2019 during the prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine that was conducted at a very high level. Read further debunking by Polygraph and Bellingcat. Ukraine has also issued the warrant for Volodymyr Tsemakh. A special team, known as the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), was established to conduct the criminal investigation of the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17. The JIT comprises officials from the Dutch Public Prosecution Service and the Dutch police, along with police and criminal justice authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT the Dutch Public Persecution service will persecute 4 individuals for causing the crash of the MH17 and murdering of 289 persons on board. Read here a related case claiming that the Dutch government tried to pay a bribe to Tsemakh for his loyalty and participation in the MH17 farce by proposing him to move to the Netherlands. For more information, read our analysis about how trolls were spreading disinformation about the downing of MH17.