Russia's Veto Of The MH17 UN Criminal Tribunal Is An Admission Of Guilt

Paul Roderick Gregory

Vladimir Putin is minimizing his losses. Yesterday,Russia vetoed the UN resolution (proposed by the four countries that suffered the greatest loss of human life) to form a Criminal Tribunal to punish those directly and indirectly responsible for the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17.

Of the 15 members of the Security Council, 11 voted for the tribunal, three Russian-friendly countries abstained, while Russia cast its veto. Russia, which officially claims to have nothing to do with the tragedy and lost no citizens, justified its veto by asserting that a UN Criminal Tribunal appointed by the UN Secretary General will turn into a “political show.” There can be no other conclusion, writes a Russian opposition figure: In its “panic” to avoid a real investigation, Russia has “admitted its guilt” with its UN veto.

If Russia were innocent (and Ukraine or the U.S. were guilty instead, as Russian propaganda claims), why would it object to a tribunal? Especially one formed by the UN where the country has its share of allies.

The Joint Investigation Team, appointed by the International Aviation Organization, should finalize its report and release it by year’s end, but leaks already point to its conclusion: MH17 was downed by a surface to air missile fired from a BUK system brought into east Ukraine from Russia and was most likely operated by a Russian crew. Under the UN resolution, this report would have been turned over to the UN Criminal Tribunal, which would open criminal proceedings. As the irate foreign minister of Australia warned: “Those responsible may believe that they can now hide behind the Russian Federation’s veto,” but Australia, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine will find an alternative prosecution mechanism.

Putin’s vetoed the UN tribunal because he knew that any real court proceeding would reveal Russia’s role in the MH17 tragedy. Connecting the dots would be easy. The tribunal would have scientific evidence, eye witness accounts and alist of suspects drawn from intercepts that lead directly to Russia.

Here is Putin’s calculation: Let the world interpret, as it should, Russia’s veto as an admission of its guilt. Through non-stop propaganda, Putin has already convinced his people that Ukraine and the United States are the guilty parties. In fact, Russians favor a UN tribunal because they are sure it will prove their country’s innocence and Ukraine’s guilt.

But Putin cannot afford to let the Russian people know that it was Russian equipment and likely trained Russian experts which killed some 300 innocent victims. He must keep the MH17 investigation out of a legitimate court of law and continue to fight this as a propaganda war that he can win–at least at home where it counts.

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