Ukraine files lawsuit against Iran in ICJ over downing of UIA plane
Spokesman for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Oleg Nikolenko announced this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.
“We, the members of the International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752 representing Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, note that no agreement on the organization of arbitration was reached between Iran and the Coordination Group pursuant to Article 14 of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation,” the statement reads.
“Accordingly, the Coordination Group intends to pursue our collective effort to ensure Iran is held accountable for the unlawful downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 by referring the dispute to the International Court of Justice as soon as is practicable,” the statement stresses.
As reported, on January 8, 2020, the Ukraine International Airlines plane (Flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv was shot down in the sky over Iran. There were 176 people on board – nine crew members (all Ukrainians) and 167 passengers (citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK). All of them died.
On January 11, 2020, Iran admitted that its military had accidentally shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accepted full responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian airliner.
On January 5, 2021, Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine had received a draft technical report from Iran on the circumstances of the plane crash.
In early 2022, Iran officially refused to continue negotiations on the investigation into the consequences of the disaster. Tehran told Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and Britain that it was refusing to negotiate over the UIA plane crash.
In a joint statement on December 29, 2022, Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Ukraine called on Iran to agree to arbitration of the dispute related to the downing of flight PS752.
On April 16, 2023, a court in Iran sentenced ten Iranian military personnel to prison due to their involvement in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet over Tehran in 2020.
The International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752 believes that Iran's legal process in the case of the downing of the UIA plane was not impartial and transparent, and declares that it will make every effort to ensure justice.
Photo: AA
