Posted on 07/27/2014 5:01:02 PM PDT by nickcarraway
British lawyers are getting ready to hit Russian President Vladimir Putin with a multi-million pound class action suit for his alleged role in the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine this month, an English daily reported.
According to British daily The Sunday Telegraph, senior Russian military commanders and politicians closely-linked to Putin will likely be also included in the suit, set to take place in American courts.
“There has been talk of civil suits against Malaysia Airlines, but those immediately responsible are not only the separatists who are alleged to have fired the rocket at Flight MH17, causing the death of hundreds of innocent victims, but those, be they states, individuals or other entities, who provided them with financial and material support and the means to do so.
“Our team is presently liaising and working with partners in Ukraine and the US on whether, apart from civil suits against the airline, legal action can be brought against the perpetrators on the victims’ behalf,” said a spokesman for London-based law firm McCue and Partners.
The Telegraph revealed that the firm’s lawyers flew to Ukraine last week to discuss the details and location to file the suit.
The victims’ next-of-kin will also be invited to join in on the suit, which will highlight Russia’s alleged role in “stoking conflict” in eastern Ukraine, it said.
The report also said that the burden of proof in the civil case would be lower than in a criminal investigation, ensuring that Putin and other senior Kremlin politicians will be held responsible even if they were to be left scot-free in the official inquiry.
It also said that the case could be worth at least hundreds of millions of pounds (or ringgit), and Putin and his allies will see their assets frozen should they refuse compensation.
Previously, the firm sued the late former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for sponsoring Irish terrorists in Northern Ireland and the British mainland.
This comes as Britain accused Russia today of making false claims about the MH17 crash and said it was “highly likely” it was brought down by a Russian-supplied missile fired from a Russian-backed separatist area.
The Foreign Office said in a statement that Russia had issued a succession of contradictory claims and denials about the crash, which killed all 298 people on board, including 10 Britons.
Britain was also aware of information that suggested separatists had been planning to scatter parts of other aircraft on the site to hinder investigators, it said.
The statement came after Russia’s ambassador to Britain, Alexander Yakovenko, said on Thursday that allegations Russia was involved in the downing crash “didn’t hold water”.
The Boeing 777-200ER, which was on a scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over strife-torn Eastern Ukraine on 17 July. There were no survivors.
Good luck with that.
A non-starter.
Slow day at the office, eh Counselor?
Oh c’mon. They’ll get the money right after Robert Kraft gets his Superbowl ring.
I suspect there is still a lot of Russian money in London. London’s dominance as a world financial market makes it advantageous for countries all over the world to invest some of their money there, even if there is the potential for the cash to be frozen.
A court verdict means nothing without power to enforce it.
Who is going to force Putin to obey any British court order?
President of Ukraine?
Money means zilch to egomaniacs like Putin.
That would be like some court somewhere producing a judgment against Obama, and enforcing it by seizing ExxonMobil's operations in the country. Yes, they could, but it would be very banana-republic-ish.
Libya was sued after the Lockerbie downing, and Iran sued us.
Too long ago for my memory, but I thought the plaintiffs were able to freeze some Libyan assets.
A plaintiff can ask for that when the complaint is filed by filing a surety bond and having the court order any banks holding Russian assets to `freeze’ up to the amount of the potential judgment.
The lawyers ... as one of the Pips said to Gladys Knight,
“Beats workin’!”
“A court verdict means nothing without power to enforce it.
Who is going to force Putin to obey any British court order?
President of Ukraine?”
But if there is a cash award by the court, the winners can go after any Russian assets that are in Western banks. Just saying.
Sir, with all due respect, nobody has to force Putin to do anything re assets that are in US, Britain, or the Netherlands control. All have functioning court systems so any Russian or Putin cash in any of those banks would be subject to seizure by a court with jurisdiction.
This could get real costly for Putin IF these attorney’s win their case and IF they get a judgment and can find seizable assets.
The Europeans need Russia and Putin far more than Russia needs Europe. If Putin turns of the energy spigot, Europeans will be freezing their butts off. Europeans will not dare to make Putin mad.
In short, Putin has the upper hand here. He has the oil & Nat Gas, and he has the military, all of which the Europeans lack. Military power is still the king.
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