- Title: Lockerbie lawyer seeks $330 mln from Putin, Russia for MH17 disaster
- Date: 23rd May 2016
- Summary: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (MAY 23, 2016) (REUTERS) RECEPTIONIST WORKING AT FRONT DESK OF AUSTRALIAN LAW FIRM LHD LAWYERS RECEPTIONIST LOOKING AT COMPUTER LHD LAWYERS LOGO BEHIND FRONT DESK JOURNALIST TALKING TO AVIATION LAWYER JERRY SKINNER (SOUNDBITE) (English) AVIATION LAWYER, JERRY SKINNER, SAYING: "Nothing happens in Russia that he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) doesn't approve of, therefore vicariously he's responsible. So that's sort of the mystery of the whole thing, there's really no mystery." JOURNALIST LISTENING TO SKINNER (SOUNDBITE) (English) AVIATION LAWYER, JERRY SKINNER, SAYING: "All of that stuff is available and even without the Russian's contributions, I am confident in saying that it was the Russians who caused this event to occur." SKINNER LISTENING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (English) AVIATION LAWYER, JERRY SKINNER SAYING: "I'm hopeful that the Australian government gets involved. We need the leverage of one of the governments whose hands are clean. That can't be the Malaysians, it will not be the Dutch because their relationship with Russia is too important to them. The Australians, on the other hand, have the ability to put international political pressure to gather together those nations who want these questions answered, and to try to get Putin to come to talk about it." WHITE FLASH
- Embargoed: 7th June 2016 11:02
- Keywords: Lockerbie MH17 Putin Lockerbie laywer compensation Malaysia Airlines Australia Russia aviation
- Location: SYDNEY, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
- City: SYDNEY, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA0014J123PJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS WHITE FLASHES TO SEPARATE SOUNDBITES.
The U.S. aviation lawyer who won compensation for victims of the 1988 Lockerbie aircraft bombing is now seeking $330 million from Russia for the downing of Malaysian Airlines MH17 in 2014, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin must be held responsible.
Jerry Skinner, who is leading Australian law firm LHD's compensation claim against Russia and Putin in the European Court of Human Rights, says he is confident of success but admits the case, like that of Lockerbie, may take years.
The Malaysian Airlines' Boeing 777 crashed in eastern Ukraine in pro-Russian rebel-held territory on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board, including 28 Australians.
The aircraft, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded in its final report.
Skinner said he had no personal issue with Putin, but that the Russian president had opened himself to liability through his extensive control over the Russian state. "Nothing happens in Russia that he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) doesn't approve of, therefore vicariously he's responsible," Skinner told Reuters in an interview on Monday (May 23) in Sydney.
Skinner said evidence from witnesses, videos, photographs, radar, air traffic control tapes supported his compensation case. "All of that stuff is available and even without the Russian's contributions, I am confident in saying that it was the Russians who caused this event to occur," he said.
The LHD lawsuit is on behalf of 16 victims from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia, and 33 next of kin. Each claimant is seeking $10 million in damages.
Skinner won similar compensation for the victims of Pan Am Flight 103 which was destroyed by a bomb over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 270 people.
Skinner said international political pressure was needed to uncover the truth behind the downing of MH17.
"I'm hopeful that the Australian government gets involved. We need the leverage of one of the governments whose hands are clean," he said.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Monday echoed the sentiment for an independent investigation. "The Turnbull Government is absolutely committed to ensuring that the independent investigation is concluded thoroughly and properly and that should there be recommendations that point to parties being held to account, then we will work very hard to ensure that a system is set up, a mechanism is set up, to hold those responsible for this atrocity to account," she said.
Malaysia, the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and Ukraine have been exploring alternative options, including trials in international and national courts, after Russia vetoed a United Nations bid in July 2015 to form a tribunal. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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