MH17死难者家属起诉俄罗斯及普京

Relatives of victims of the Malaysian airliner shot down over Ukraine in July 2014 are suing Russia and President Vladimir Putin over their alleged involvement in the incident.

2014年7月在乌克兰上空被击落的马来西亚航班死难者的亲属，正在以涉嫌参与这一事件的理由，向俄罗斯及其总统弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)发起诉讼。

LHD, an Australian law firm, said on Monday it had filed a lawsuit at the European Court of Human Rights seeking damages of $10m per passenger in relation to the downing of the jet in pro-Russian rebel-held territory, which killed all 298 passengers on board.

澳大利亚律师事务所LHD周一表示，该所已向欧洲人权法院(European Court of Human Rights)提交诉讼，索取每位乘客1000万美元的赔偿。这些乘客与坠落在亲俄叛军所控制领土的航班有关，这一事件导致机上298名乘客全部遇难。

“We have submitted almost 2,000 pages of documentary evidence which indicate that Russians were present, Russian heavy military equipment was present, it was photographed, witnessed, videoed and geo-located to the area were the missile was fired from,” said Jerry Skinner, special counsel with LHD.

LHD特别诉讼律师杰里•斯金纳(Jerry Skinner)表示：“我们已提交了近2000页书面证据。这些证据表明俄罗斯人出现过，俄罗斯重型军事装备曾出现过，照片、目击证人、视频和GPS定位都显示他们的位置在该枚导弹发出的地区。”

Mr Skinner told Australian radio the lawsuit was filed on behalf of 33 next of kin of seven families from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. He said the action was intended to be “a deterrent or punishment for undesirable conduct”, which he alleges was perpetrated by Russia and Mr Putin.

斯金纳向澳大利亚广播电台表示，这一法律诉讼是代来自澳大利亚、新西兰和马来西亚的七个家庭的33名亲属提交的。他说，此举意在“震慑或惩罚不良行为”。按照他的说法，这一不良行为是俄罗斯和普京犯下的。

The shooting down of flight MH17 during a conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels prompted the UN to issue a resolution condemning the “tragic loss” of lives and calling for an independent investigation. Two-thirds of the 298 victims on the flight between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur were Dutch, with the remainder coming from Australia, Malaysia and several other nations.

在乌克兰军队与俄罗斯支持的反政府军发生的一次冲突期间，MH17航班被击落。这一事件促使联合国发出决议，谴责生命的“悲剧性丧失”并呼吁开展独立调查。在这一从阿姆斯特丹飞往吉隆坡的航班上，298名遇难者中有三分之二的人是荷兰人，其余人则来自澳大利亚、马来西亚和其他几个国家。

The Dutch safety board concluded in a report last year that the aircraft was brought down by a Russian-made surface-to-air Buk missile but did not say who fired it.

去年，荷兰安全委员会(Dutch Safety Board)在一份报告中认定，飞机是被一枚俄制地对空山毛榉导弹击落的，不过该机构并未表示是谁发射了这枚导弹。

Ukraine and western experts have blamed Russian-backed rebels for firing the missile but this has been rejected by Russia, which has blamed Ukrainian forces.

乌克兰和西方专家将导弹的发射归咎于俄罗斯支持的反政府军，俄罗斯却否认了这种说法，并将其归咎于乌克兰政府军。

Mr Skinner, who previously worked on compensation claims lodged by families against Libya following the Lockerbie disaster, said it was clear that without Mr Putin’s permission a Buk missile would never have crossed the border into Ukraine.

斯金纳曾在洛克比空难后，受家属所托办理过针对利比亚的索赔案。他说，很明显，山毛榉导弹没有普京的允许是不会越境进入乌克兰的。

“That doesn’t simply happen in Russia unless it is cleared all the way to the top,” he said.

他说：“除非从上到下一路绿灯，这种事在俄罗斯不会随随便便发生的。”

A Russian spokesman said on Sunday the country did not yet have any information about the compensation claim.

周日，一名俄罗斯发言人表示，对于索赔的任何情况俄罗斯还不知情。

Last year Russia vetoed a UN resolution that sought to establish an independent tribunal for the purpose of prosecuting people responsible for downing MH17. An investigation by Dutch criminal prosecutors has yet to conclude.

去年，俄罗斯曾否决一项联合国(UN)决议，该决议试图组建一个独立法庭，起诉击落MH17航班的责任人。而由荷兰刑事检察机构开展的一项调查仍未得出结论。

Moscow’s refusal to back a UN investigation stands in contrast to its pursuit of those responsible for a terrorist attack on an Egyptian jet in October that killed 224 people, mainly Russian holidaymakers. Russia has offered $50m for information leading to the capture of those responsible.

俄罗斯政府拒绝支持联合国调查，与其对去年十月一架埃及航班上所发生恐怖袭击的责任人的追查形成了鲜明对比。该事件导致224人丧生，主要是度假的俄罗斯人。俄罗斯已悬赏5000万美元，寻找任何能抓获责任人的情报。