Netherlands: Dutch prosecutor dismisses Ukrainian radar data as faulty in MH17 downing

W/S Reporters in press room, Nieuwegein
SOT, Wilbert Paulissen, Dutch National Police chief: "We have several radar data from several countries also from the Ukraine, yes, that's the same, we put all that together. We look at all the data, at this moment we have enough data from radar data..."
SOT, Reporter: "But this data was not published as I understand?"
SOT, Reporter: "Why wasn't it published then?"
SOT, Wilbert Paulissen, Dutch National Police chief: "They published from?"
SOT, Reporter: "I mean the data from Ukraine because in the media, there were many many articles that the radars were turned off during the incident."
SOT, Wilbert Paulissen, Dutch National Police chief: "We don't publish everything of our investigation."
SOT, Reporter: "You think that's not relevant?"
SOT, Wilbert Paulissen, Dutch National Police chief: "[laughs] no, no, because everything in the investigation is relevant but the place, because this is rather unique for the Netherlands. We normally explain things like this only in court and because this is an exceptional case and of course the next-of-kin want to have more information, that's why we disclose it at this moment for you all, but that has a limit and the limit is at this moment that we are going deeper into the evidence because that's, you know the word, trial by media? We don't want that."
M/S Reporters talking to Chief Prosecutor from Dutch National Prosecutor's Office Fred Westerbeke *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Fred Westerbeke, Chief Prosecutor from Dutch National Prosecutor's Office: "We do have some radar data but there were some problems with radar stations there, we know that, we did examinations for that. We did investigations for that so these radar data are not relevant anymore. Everybody is still talking about this radar data but we have a load of evidence, a load of evidence other than radar on which we can say flight MH17 was downed from the eastern part of Ukraine in the area of Donetsk."
W/S Westerbeke talking to reporters *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Fred Westerbeke, Chief Prosecutor from Dutch National Prosecutor's Office: "We did get some information from Russia but not very much information which was helpful. What I am saying every time again, at 17 of July a Buk-telar from the 53rd Antiaircraft Missile Brigade from the Russian Federation was used to down MH17 and the only ones who can give us the exact information how this Buk-telar from the Russian Federation came to the eastern part of Ukraine and got back, everybody in the 53rd knows how it was and nobody is telling us anything and this is a shame and the Russian Federation should tell us what happened."
W/S Reporters in press room
C/U Sign reading JIT (Joint Investigation Team)
SCRIPT
A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in Nieuwegein has decided to partially dismiss radar data from Ukrainian stations at the time of downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in July 2014 due to their "problems" at the time of the incident. Chief Prosecutor from Dutch National Prosecutor's Office Fred Westerbeke made the remarks in an interview in Nieuwegein on Wednesday.
"We do have some radar data but there were some problems with radar stations there… so these radar data are not relevant anymore,” said Westerbeke after prosecutors charged three Russians and a Ukrainian national with murder for their alleged role in Mh17 downing.
Westerbeke urged Russia to provide more comprehensive information on how the "Buk-telar from the 53rd Antiaircraft Missile Brigade from the Russian Federation" was employed in the downing of the aircraft on July 17.
"Everybody in the 53rd knows how it was and nobody is telling us anything and this is a shame and the Russian Federation should tell us what happened."
In a written statement, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MFA) dismissed JIT’s statement on alleged involvement of Russian servicemen in MH17 crash and said the investigation was based on ungrounded accusations and not facts. Moscow also voiced concern over JIT’s one-sided bias, fed solely by what it claimed was forged evidence by Ukraine. Russia pledged its own resources in truth-finding in the MH17 downing.
The three Russian military officers accused with involvement were named as Oleg Pulatov, Igor Girkin, and Sergey Dubinskiy, with the Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko also being named, and international arrest warrants have been issued for all four men.
Girkin was serving as Minister of Defence of the Donetsk People's Republic at the time with the other three men all working under him.
The Defence Ministry of the Donetsk People's Republic has denied the allegations that it was involved in the MH17 crash.
A prospective trial date of March 2020 was set by investigators.
Russia does not form part of the (JIT), which is made up of police and criminal justice authorities from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.