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Proposed Flight MH17 Tribunal Is an Attempt to Strangle Russia

© REUTERS / Maxim ShemetovA dog stands at the site where MH17, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane, crashed near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo) in Donetsk region
A dog stands at the site where MH17, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane, crashed near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo) in Donetsk region - Sputnik International
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Willy Wimmer, former German Defense Minister, said that the UN-backed MH17 crash tribunal is part of a wider attempt to punish Russia and is using the deaths of hundreds simply for political capital.

At the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 near Shaktyorsk - Sputnik International
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MOSCOW (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova – The recent bid to create a UN-backed tribunal to punish those behind last July's Malaysia Airlines MH17 flight crash aims at launching a joint attack on Russia, a former German Defence Minister told Sputnik on Friday.

Earlier in July, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine put forward a joint proposal to set up an independent tribunal to prosecute those responsible for the plane crash. On Tuesday, Malaysia submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council.

"We should be aware that this kind of a resolution is an effort to create some kind of a ‘daily resolution’ against the Russian Federation," Willy Wimmer said.

Russia has been repeatedly blamed for backing anti-government militias in Ukraine, who Ukrainian authorities accuse of downing the Malaysian aircraft with a Russia-supplied Buk missile. Last year, several Western powers imposed sweeping economic sanctions on Moscow over its alleged role in the Ukrainian armed conflict.

"There are ongoing efforts by the 'usual suspects' to organize by all means an international and global alliance to strangle that country by all means, to establish a global attitude of hostility against Moscow and to go even further," he said.

People wearing t-shirts bearing a drawing of a plane and slogans reading  MH 17, One year in the skies hold flowers to the Dutch embassy in Kiev on July 17, 2015 in memory of the people who died in the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 - Sputnik International
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He stressed that these moves come amid Russia’s active participation in resolving some of the most pressing global issues, such as negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

"The resolution, proposed by Malaysia and others is a shame, because they utilize the hundreds of victims for political purpose and must be seen in a broader context," Wimmer said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that the UN Security Council has never before classified civilian aviation disasters as a threat to international security. He stressed that the international body has nothing to do with the investigation.

One year ago, a Malaysian airliner en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam crashed in southeastern Ukraine. All 298 people on board died. According to a preliminary report by the Dutch Safety Board, the Boeing 777 fell apart in midair after being hit by numerous high-energy objects.

The Western-backed government in Kiev and independence supporters in Ukraine’s southeast have been trading the blame for the crash.

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