A vigil marking the three-year anniversary of the downing of flight PS752, in Toronto, on Jan. 8.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
The association that represents families of victims of the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which the Iranian Revolutionary Guard shot out of the sky more than three years ago, says it does not recognize a decision from an Iranian court sentencing a commander for downing the plane.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard shot the plane down in January, 2020. All 176 people on board – including 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents of Canada and 53 others travelling to Canada via Kyiv – were killed on Jan. 8, 2020, when the plane was struck by a pair of Iranian surface-to-air missiles shortly after takeoff from Tehran.
Iran initially denied responsibility for the attack, but said days later that its Revolutionary Guard had fired the two missiles in error, after mistaking the plane for a cruise missile. Canada and its allies have dismissed Iran’s explanation and have demanded accountability. Families of the victims have been fighting for justice since, determined to find out why the plane was downed, and to hold the perpetrators accountable.
On Sunday, Iran state media reported that the court sentenced an air defence commander allegedly responsible for the downing of the passenger plane, and handed out a series of other sentences.
The Association of Families of Flight PS752 said in a statement Sunday that it has never recognized the Islamic Regime’s court as a legitimate tribunal and never will, saying with “its lack of impartiality and independence, the rulings of this court are accordingly meaningless and unacceptable.”
“This court did not prosecute the commanders and main perpetrators of this crime, introduced 10 accused low-ranking officers with total obscurity of their backgrounds and identities, held sessions in private, flouted the families who attended the hearings, and ultimately issued a sham ruling to end this show in keeping with their predetermined scenario without conducting any full, impartial investigation,” the statement said.
“We demand that an impartial, international court must try this crime. We long for holding fair trials in a free Iran,” said Kourosh Doustshenas, a spokesperson for the association on Twitter.
The official judiciary news outlet Mizan reported that the Guards commander who officials claim to have ordered the strike was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Mizan said the commander did not follow protocols leading up to the shooting down of the plane and that the commander was ordered to pay fines to families of victims.
According to the report, the court also sentenced two people allegedly involved in running the surface-to-air missile system to one year in prison each, and at least seven other people and air defence officers to up to three years in prison. Mizan reported that the verdicts are appealable within 20 days. It did not identify the defendants by name or give further details.
In December, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and Britain started a process to hold Iran legally accountable. The countries make up the International Co-ordination and Response Group which was formed to pursue reparations from Iran.
The countries said they requested that Iran submit to binding arbitration under an international dispute resolution process governed by the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation. That convention, a treaty that was designed to protect commercial aircraft from attack, was signed in Montreal in 1971. It requires parties to punish those who commit offences involving airplanes. Canada and its allies have signed the convention, and so has Iran.
The call for binding arbitration from Canada and its allies follows years of unsuccessful attempts to negotiate reparations with Iran. If Iran does not agree to binding arbitration within six months, the case can be referred to the International Court of Justice, according to the terms of the convention. But it’s not clear whether Iran would participate, and the six-month mark is approaching.
On Sunday, the judiciary news agency reported that Iran plans to pay US$150,000 for each victim to their families, although there are no details on how those payments would be made.
The association representing families of victims said it remains an open case and that the four governments of affected countries are not absolved of their responsibility to seek justice.
They listed a number of demands, including that the referral of the dispute to the International Court of Justice by the four countries be filed immediately after the end of the arbitration period, on June 28, and that the four countries support the complaint filed by the Association to the International Criminal Court. They demand that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps be listed as a terrorist entity. And they urge the RCMP to open a criminal case and investigate the downing of the flight.
“We will not tire in the process of seeking truth and justice for Flight PS752. Countless beautiful lives were lost, the truth remained disguised, and justice was not served.”
With a report from Reuters