MOSCOW (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova — The decision of the Dutch government not to provide information on its actions in the aftermath of MH17 flight crash in July 2014 is in breach with the right to information, a researcher and campaigner at Access Info Europe advocacy group told Sputnik on Thursday.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine's southeastern Donetsk region on July 17, 2014, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board died in the crash, 196 of whom were Dutch nationals.
"In our opinion, the Dutch [Security and Justice] Ministry's refusal to provide any further information about the follow-up to the MH17 crash is out of line with international standards on the right of access to information," Pam Bartlett Quintanilla said.
The Dutch television news service RTL Nieuws has made a request under the Freedom of Information Act about the actions of the Dutch government in the aftermath of the Malaysia Airlines crash in southeastern Ukraine. In response, Dutch Minister for Security and Justice Ard van der Steur said the fact that it related to information about the handling of the MH17 disaster "does not give extra weight to the importance of public access."
Another request was made in October 2014 when RTL Nieuws asked for the disclosure of documents from the cabinet's ministerial crisis committee, and from the civil service crisis teams dealing with the disaster. In February 2015, some redacted documents were released in response to the request.
