MH17死難者家屬起訴俄羅斯及普京

Relatives of victims of the Malaysian airliner shot down over Ukraine in July 2014 are suing Russia and President Vladimir Putin over their alleged involvement in the incident.

2014年7月在烏克蘭上空被擊落的馬來西亞航班死難者的親屬，正在以涉嫌參與這一事件的理由，向俄羅斯及其總統弗拉基米爾•普京(Vladimir Putin)發起訴訟。

LHD, an Australian law firm, said on Monday it had filed a lawsuit at the European Court of Human Rights seeking damages of $10m per passenger in relation to the downing of the jet in pro-Russian rebel-held territory, which killed all 298 passengers on board.

澳大利亞律師事務所LHD週一表示，該所已向歐洲人權法院(European Court of Human Rights)提交訴訟，索取每位乘客1000萬美元的賠償。這些乘客與墜落在親俄叛軍所控制領土的航班有關，這一事件導致機上298名乘客全部遇難。

“We have submitted almost 2,000 pages of documentary evidence which indicate that Russians were present, Russian heavy military equipment was present, it was photographed, witnessed, videoed and geo-located to the area were the missile was fired from,” said Jerry Skinner, special counsel with LHD.

LHD特別訴訟律師傑裏•斯金納(Jerry Skinner)表示：“我們已提交了近2000頁書面證據。這些證據表明俄羅斯人出現過，俄羅斯重型軍事裝備曾出現過，照片、目擊證人、視頻和GPS定位都顯示他們的位置在該枚導彈發出的地區。”

Mr Skinner told Australian radio the lawsuit was filed on behalf of 33 next of kin of seven families from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. He said the action was intended to be “a deterrent or punishment for undesirable conduct”, which he alleges was perpetrated by Russia and Mr Putin.

斯金納向澳大利亞廣播電臺表示，這一法律訴訟是代來自澳大利亞、新西蘭和馬來西亞的七個家庭的33名親屬提交的。他說，此舉意在“震懾或懲罰不良行爲”。按照他的說法，這一不良行爲是俄羅斯和普京犯下的。

The shooting down of flight MH17 during a conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels prompted the UN to issue a resolution condemning the “tragic loss” of lives and calling for an independent investigation. Two-thirds of the 298 victims on the flight between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur were Dutch, with the remainder coming from Australia, Malaysia and several other nations.

在烏克蘭軍隊與俄羅斯支持的反政府軍發生的一次衝突期間，MH17航班被擊落。這一事件促使聯合國發出決議，譴責生命的“悲劇性喪失”並呼籲開展獨立調查。在這一從阿姆斯特丹飛往吉隆坡的航班上，298名遇難者中有三分之二的人是荷蘭人，其餘人則來自澳大利亞、馬來西亞和其他幾個國家。

The Dutch safety board concluded in a report last year that the aircraft was brought down by a Russian-made surface-to-air Buk missile but did not say who fired it.

去年，荷蘭安全委員會(Dutch Safety Board)在一份報告中認定，飛機是被一枚俄製地對空山毛櫸導彈擊落的，不過該機構並未表示是誰發射了這枚導彈。

Ukraine and western experts have blamed Russian-backed rebels for firing the missile but this has been rejected by Russia, which has blamed Ukrainian forces.

烏克蘭和西方專家將導彈的發射歸咎於俄羅斯支持的反政府軍，俄羅斯卻否認了這種說法，並將其歸咎於烏克蘭政府軍。

Mr Skinner, who previously worked on compensation claims lodged by families against Libya following the Lockerbie disaster, said it was clear that without Mr Putin’s permission a Buk missile would never have crossed the border into Ukraine.

斯金納曾在洛克比空難後，受家屬所託辦理過針對利比亞的索賠案。他說，很明顯，山毛櫸導彈沒有普京的允許是不會越境進入烏克蘭的。

“That doesn’t simply happen in Russia unless it is cleared all the way to the top,” he said.

他說：“除非從上到下一路綠燈，這種事在俄羅斯不會隨隨便便發生的。”

A Russian spokesman said on Sunday the country did not yet have any information about the compensation claim.

週日，一名俄羅斯發言人表示，對於索賠的任何情況俄羅斯還不知情。

Last year Russia vetoed a UN resolution that sought to establish an independent tribunal for the purpose of prosecuting people responsible for downing MH17. An investigation by Dutch criminal prosecutors has yet to conclude.

去年，俄羅斯曾否決一項聯合國(UN)決議，該決議試圖組建一個獨立法庭，起訴擊落MH17航班的責任人。而由荷蘭刑事檢察機構開展的一項調查仍未得出結論。

Moscow’s refusal to back a UN investigation stands in contrast to its pursuit of those responsible for a terrorist attack on an Egyptian jet in October that killed 224 people, mainly Russian holidaymakers. Russia has offered $50m for information leading to the capture of those responsible.

俄羅斯政府拒絕支持聯合國調查，與其對去年十月一架埃及航班上所發生恐怖襲擊的責任人的追查形成了鮮明對比。該事件導致224人喪生，主要是度假的俄羅斯人。俄羅斯已懸賞5000萬美元，尋找任何能抓獲責任人的情報。