Russia on Thursday condemned the “political” decision after a Dutch court convicted three men, including two Russians, of shooting down a Malaysia Airlines flight over Ukraine in 2014, AFP reported.

Malaysia Airlines plane crash sitePhoto: Youtube.com snapshot

“The course and results of the trial show that (the decision) is based on a political order,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

On Thursday, a Dutch court sentenced three men to life in prison and acquitted another for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014. The trial ended against the backdrop of Moscow’s ongoing military offensive against Kyiv.

All 298 passengers and crew were killed when the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur airliner was shot down over pro-Russian separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine by a missile supplied by Moscow, prosecutors said.

Russians Igor Gurkin and Serhiy Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Khartsenko were found guilty of murder and complicity in the destruction of the plane, while Russian Oleg Pulatov was acquitted.

All three men were convicted in absentia after refusing to take part in the two-and-a-half-year trial.

Russia categorically denies any responsibility for the destruction of the plane and accuses the Dutch court of ignoring the evidence that, in its opinion, exonerates the three convicts.

“During the trial, unprecedented pressure was exerted on the court by Dutch politicians, prosecutors and media representatives, who imposed a politically motivated outcome of the trial,” Russian diplomacy said.

This process “has every chance to become one of the most scandalous in the history of the judiciary, with a number of curiosities, inconsistencies and dubious arguments of the prosecution, which nevertheless served as the basis for the verdict,” she added.

“We deeply regret that (the court) ignored the principles of impartial justice in order to serve the current political situation, thereby dealing a serious blow to the reputation of the entire judicial system of the Netherlands,” the Russians said.

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