Iran's military court denies nonsuit order for Ukraine plane crash culprits

The Judicial Organization of the Iranian Armed Forces has denied rumors that a nonsuit order was issued for the culprits in the downing of a Ukrainian plane in early 2020.

“As previously mentioned, ten defendants in this case were summoned to the court due to culpability and negligence, and the case was sent to the court after an indictment was issued,” Fars news agency quoted an informed source as saying on Sunday.

“Immediately after sending the case to the court, the case was studied by the presiding judge and several meetings were held with the [victims’] close relatives and their lawyers for initial preparations before the court hearing,” the source added.

On January 8, 2020, the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, en route to Kiev while carrying mostly Iranians, crashed minutes after takeoff near the Iranian capital, killing all of the 176 passengers on board.

The plane was shot down by Iran’s air defenses, which mistook the aircraft for a military target amid high tensions between Tehran and Washington following the US assassination of top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq days earlier.

Last month, the spokesman of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) told press TV that allegations made by Ukrainian officials about the incident are “unconstructive,” as they try to politicize the case.

The plane’s black boxes were one of the main sources of information used to compile the final report of an investigation over the accidental downing of the plane, Keyvan Khosravi said.

“Unfortunately, Ukrainian officials are trying to ascribe false allegations to Iranian officials in order to politicize this case, and their recent allegations in this regard are by no means constructive and acceptable,” he remarked.

Khosravi also noted that judicial measures are underway in the hearing of culprits of this bitter incident and their punishment will be soon meted out through the competent court.

Days earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh dismissed a claim by Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defense council, that the crash was an “intentional and conscious attack.”

Danilov had told Canadian daily The Globe and Mail earlier in the day that “when they claim it was accidental…I don’t buy that.” He described the incident as “intentional” and a “conscious attack.”

In response, Khatibzadeh said, “despite all the explanations as well as technical and expert reports [on the incident], Ukrainian officials continue making vague, political remarks.” He expressed regret over what he called “imaginary” and “commissioned” theories concocted by them.

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