Ukraine releases key MH17 witness ahead of Russia prisoner swap
Volodymyr Tsemakh may be part of an exchange between Moscow and Kyiv
.
9/5/19, 5:18 PM CET
Updated 9/5/19, 5:22 PM CET
A Ukrainian court on Thursday ordered the release of a potential key witness in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 amid negotiations for a prisoner swap between Moscow and Kyiv.
Volodymyr Tsemakh, a Ukrainian national, was arrested in June this year and accused of terrorism for fighting with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
He is considered to be a possible witness to the downing of MH17 — which according to the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was hit with a Russian Buk missile from separatist territory — as he reportedly oversaw a rebel air defense unit in a town close to where the plane came down. On Thursday, however, a judge in Kyiv
released
Tsemakh pending trial.
The ruling comes as Ukraine and Russia gear up for a prisoner exchange that, according to as yet unconfirmed reports, includes Tsemakh.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that talks with Ukraine on a prisoner swap were being finalized and that the exchange could involve a large number of people,
Russian media
reported.
Dutch newspaper NRC
reported Monday
that the JIT's lead investigator, Fred Westerbeke, sent a letter to Ukrainian prosecutors on August 30 saying that Tsemakh was not only considered a witness but also a suspect and that investigators therefore would like to question him over the air disaster.
Meanwhile, 40 MEPs on Wednesday
sent a letter
to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urging him to not include Tsemakh in the prisoner exchange.
"While we understand the context within which such negotiations are taking place and the diplomatic efforts by the Ukrainian authorities to this end, Mr Tsemakh is a suspect in the criminal investigation related to the downing of flight MH17," the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
"His availability and testimony before the Joint Investigation Team is thus of the utmost importance for an effective prosecution and must be brought to justice," they added.
All 298 people on board the MH17 flight were killed over eastern Ukraine in July 2014. Russia has been adamant that it was not involved in the downing of the plane, but the investigative team has named three Russian suspects in the case.
