Russia vetoes UN resolution on MH17 tribunal
Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution
on Wednesday that sought to set up a special tribunal to try those responsible
for shooting down flight MH17 over Ukraine.
Eleven of the 15 members of the Security Council voted in
favor of the resolution, which had been drafted by Australia, Belgium,
Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, reports AFP.
Russia exercised its veto. Angola, China and Venezuela
abstained. The Security Council session began with a moment's silence in honor
of the 298 people killed in the July 2014 disaster.
"What are the grounds to be assured of the impartiality
of such an investigation?" Russian ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin
said in a speech to the Council after the vote.
He asked how it could resist an "aggressive backdrop of
propaganda in the media."
Russia drafted an alternative resolution that does not
include a tribunal but asks for a full international investigation.
Malaysia's transport minister earlier appealed to Council
members to adopt the resolution and said a tribunal would be best placed to
"deliver justice to the families of the victims."
"All those who travel by air will be more at risk if
the perpetrators are not held to account," Liow Tiong Lai said.
The flight was downed over rebel-held east Ukraine during
heavy fighting between Kiev's armed forces and pro-Russian separatists.
The majority of passengers on the flight from Amsterdam to
Kuala Lumpur were Dutch.
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