Lawyers for MH17 victims were intimidated during a trial in the Netherlands. Russia may be behind this

Lawyers representing the families of the 298 people killed in the 2014 downed Malaysia Airlines plane crash over Ukraine are intimidated. They are offered protection measures, reported Dutch broadcaster RTL on Thursday.

RTL reported that several members of a team of lawyers representing the families of the deceased three Russians and a Ukrainian citizen said they were followed home after leaving the courthouse. Some lawyers saw suspicious people guarding them at their home addresses.

“In general, all parties involved in the MH17 trial are aware of physical and digital threats. We never comment on specific security measures “, – reported Reuters emailed spokeswoman for the Dutch national anti-terrorism agency NCTV Anna Sofia Postumus.

RTL reported that at the end of September, the agency organized a briefing for the victims’ lawyers, at which they were told that Russia was probably behind the intimidation and offered protective measures. Lawyers declined to comment, writes Reuters.

Flight MH17 was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit, according to international investigators and prosecutors, by a Russian surface-to-air missile, likely fired by pro-Russian militias in Donbas. Russia denies any involvement in the disaster.