On Wednesday 25 November 2020 the pretrial stage was concluded in the MH17 criminal proceedings. The court referred the trial to the examining magistrate for additional investigation. By now the examining magistrate has notified the court regarding the progress envisaged in that investigation. Based on this information, the court has drafted a provisional schedule.
The next hearing date will be on Monday 1 February 2021. The topics to be addressed there include how this additional investigation is progressing and the status of damage claims submitted by the relatives and the application by the Public Prosecution Service to inspect the reconstruction of the MH17.
At the hearing on 15 April 2021 the court will decide whether and if so when such inspection will take place. If the court decides to conduct an inspection, this is expected to happen in May 2021.
If the investigation by the examining magistrate proceeds as expected, the court will start the hearing on the merits in the MH17 criminal trial on Monday 7 June 2021.