ICJ: UK, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine launch case against Iran

Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and Britain have launched a case against Iran at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the shooting-down of a Ukrainian passenger plane that killed all 176 people aboard, the court said on Wednesday.

Flight PS752 was traveling from Tehran to Kyiv on January 8, 2020 when it was shot down soon after takeoff. Those killed included nationals and residents of Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, as well as Afghanistan and Iran. Their ages ranged from 1 year to 74 years old.

Following three days of denials in In January 2020, Iran said its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard mistakenly downed the Ukrainian plane with two surface-to-air missiles. Iranian authorities blamed an air defense operator who they said mistook the Boeing 737-800 for an American cruise missile.

What do the countires want?

"Today's legal action reflects our unwavering commitment to achieving transparency, justice and accountability for the families of the victim," the countries said in a joint statement. They said they filed the case after Iran failed to respond to a December request for arbitration.

According to the court filing, the UK, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine argue that Iran "failed to take all practicable measures to prevent the unlawful and intentional commission of an offense" and "failed to conduct an impartial, transparent, and fair criminal investigation and prosecution consistent with international law."

The countries asked the court to "order full reparation for all injury caused" and to make Iran pay "full compensation to the applicants for the material and moral damages suffered by the victims and their families." Iran should also return the belongings of the victims and publicly acknowledge its "internationally wrongful acts," according to the filing.

Who was sentenced in Iran?

An Iranian court this year sentenced an air defense commander allegedly responsible for the downing to 13 years imprisonment, according to the country's official judiciary news outlet. 

But the countries that filed the case with the ICJ called the prosecution "a sham and opaque trial." 

Their filing alleges that Iran withheld or destroyed evidence, blamed other countries and low level Revolutionary Guard personnel, "threatened and harassed the families of the victims seeking justice" and failed to report details of the incident to the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Last week, Iran filed a case against Canada linked to the downing, accusing the North American nation of flouting state immunity in allowing relatives of terrorism victims to seek reparations from Tehran.

dh/jcg (AP, AFP, Reuters)