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Dutch media demand government releases full info on MH17 crash

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Three Dutch media companies have filed a joint lawsuit against the country’s Security and Justice Ministry, demanding that it disclose more documents relating to the MH17 catastrophe investigation after the ministry’s refusal to release the information.

The Netherlands Broadcasting Foundation (NOS); the Dutch subsidiary of the European TV, radio and production company RTL Group; and the Dutch daily Volkskrant have joined forces to appeal the Netherlands Security and Justice Ministry’s refusal to make public “many documents” concerning the Malaysian Airlines MH17 crash in Eastern Ukraine last year, NOS said in a press release.

The three media companies had previously appealed to the ministry separately, asking it to disclose MH17 investigation data based on the Freedom of Information Law (WOB). The aim of the companies was to bring to light the details of the tragedy, as well as to reconstruct the actions of Dutch officials after the catastrophe.

The three media companies asked for the reports of ministerial and other official committees that were involved in the MH17 investigation to be released. In response to the media outlets’ request, the ministry reportedly released about 575 documents related to the MH17 case, including the correspondence of the members of the national crisis group that was formed immediately after the tragedy.

However, the media companies called the result of their requests “disappointing” in statements published on their websites. They said the ministry refused to release many of the MH17-related documents and rendered lots of other documents unreadable by blurring large pieces in them. […]

Marcel Gelauff, editor-in-chief at NOS, said the wider public interest would be served by the publication of the documents: “It is not just about the families of the victims but also about the actions of the Dutch government and the political situation in Europe.”

“Finding out the causes [of the MH17 crash] and bringing the perpetrators of the attack on the plane to justice is a top priority,” Peter Klein said in the RTL press release.

“However, it is also important that the actions of politicians and government officials in the aftermath of the catastrophe could be accurately reconstructed,” he added. […]

Read in full Dutch media sue govt, demand it release full info on MH17 crash at RT


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Filed under: conflict zones, latest, mh17