Iran sentences 10 military personnel to prison for shooting down a Ukrainian plane in 2020

2023-04-17 01:42:42

Two missiles hit the Boeing 737 of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) and killed 176 occupants

STR / National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine / AFPCourt considered that the commander who ordered the overthrow made a ‘mistake’ and ignored protocols

a court of Will condemned this Sunday, 16, ten soldiers to prison terms of between one and 13 years for his involvement in the overthrow of a plane of Ukrainian passengers in January 2020, which caused the death of all 176 occupants. The commander who ordered the downing of the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plane was sentenced to three years in prison for the death of the passengers and another ten years for “ignoring safety protocols”, reported the agency “Mizan”, linked to the Judiciary. . The court found that the captain shot down the plane out of “ignorance” and “error”, mistaking the Ukrainian aircraft for a “hostile” element. The military, the main defendant in the process and whose identity has not been revealed, will serve ten years in prison, the longer of the two sentences, and will also have to pay a fine to the victims’ relatives. Nine other members of the country’s Air Force were sentenced to between one and three years in prison for the downing of the aircraft. “Mizan” indicated that the court’s decision was taken after 20 hearings and “detailed investigations” carried out over three years. “The study of this case has been one of the most important, delicate and complex legal processes in recent years in the country,” said the agency.

Those convicted can appeal the sentences within 20 days. Iran will also pay US$ 150,000 (R$ 736,000 at current exchange rates) to each relative of the victims, according to “Mizan”, which did not explain how or when this payment will be made. O Boeing 737 of UIA was shot down by two missiles shortly after taking off from Tehran airport on the morning of 8 January 2020 bound for Kiev. On the flight were 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents of Canada, as well as citizens of Iran, Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany and the United Kingdom. Tehran attributed the downing to “an error” by one of the operators of the Revolutionary Guards’ air defense systems. Iran said its Armed Forces were on alert that day because they expected retaliation from the United States for having hours earlier bombed a military base in Iraq with American troops, an attack that in turn was revenge for the assassination of powerful Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. .

*With information from EFE