Statement on MH17 Trial Conclusion – Novaya Gazeta
Our son Jack (aged 25) was killed early on in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when MH17 was shot down. Jack is now physically absent from our lives and we live with the emptiness and sadness of that painful fact.
Jack did not ‘lose’ his life. He was not killed in an accident. He was murdered. His life was deliberately taken from him by other human beings. This is the truth that has been confirmed emphatically by the court in its verdict at the MH17 trial. The court’s verdict, while focussed on the guilt or innocence of the four men charged, also underlined the Russian state’s central involvement in the conflict. As a family we hold the Russian Federation responsible for Jack’s murder in this illegal and immoral war.
To the Russian leadership we want to say:
– The lies and disinformation that were so confusing and disorienting after MH17, we now see as transparent, obvious and empty.
– The brutality and violence that was camouflaged and contained then, has now been exposed to the whole world in all its unrestrained ugliness.
– The disregard for human rights and human life that was so shocking and offensive then, is now revealed, not as an aberration, but as the Russian state’s normal way of operating.
– Your lies mean nothing. You are the aggressor. It is you that has invaded a sovereign, independent nation. You are in the wrong. Ukraine is not your possession to do with as you will. Ukraine belongs to Ukraine.
To the Russian people we want to say:
Jack is gone from our lives. What were our hopes for him? We imagine the same as your hopes for your children:
– That he would grow up safe and well
– That he would learn at school and find a good job and useful work
– That he would marry and one day have a family of his own.
Now these hopes are gone. We will never see his life unfold. I will never hold his child in my arms as I once held him. Now, this unnecessary war is claiming more and more of your own children. They are being sent unprepared to fight a war that they have no reason to fight, against opponents who have every reason to defend themselves.
You leader is said to be concerned about restoring Russia’s greatness. Are these the signs of Russia’s greatness you wish to see?:
– that missiles pour down on ordinary people in their homes in cities and villages
– that hospitals, schools and child care centres are bombed.
– that women and even girls are raped and violated
– that civilians are tortured and executed for no reason and their bodies dumped in mass graves
– that the means to warm and feed people are deliberately destroyed so they will starve or freeze in the coming winter.
What sort of nation and what sort of people do you wish to be?
Why do some of you look away from the truth or pretend it does not exist? Please look the truth in the face and make a real choice.
This brutal and unnecessary war and the suffering it causes must come to an end. The war is not of your making, but can you play a part in its ending?
Jon O’Brien
Sydney, Australia
(Writing from the Netherlands)
18 November 2022
Original article:
https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2022/11/19/russia-and-murder-are-the-two-keywords-en
About The Author
