Ten Iranian military members were sentenced Sunday for helping to down a Ukrainian passenger flight in 2020, Iran’s Mehr News reported.
The “main defendant,” an unnamed military commander who oversaw the Tor M1 surface-to-air missile system that shot down Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752, was sentenced to 13 years in prison, according to Mehr. The other convicted servicemembers were the commander’s subordinates at the air defense post.
All 176 people on the flight, which was scheduled to fly from Tehran to Kyiv on Jan. 8, 2020, were killed.
An #Iranian court has issued a verdict against 10 members of the country’s Armed Forces who were found guilty in the accidental downing of #Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 near #Tehran in January 2020.
The main defendant was sentenced to 13 years in prison, while nine… pic.twitter.com/iKihvwEx3y
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 17, 2023
Iranian authorities admitted at the time that the flight had been shot down by its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Officials blamed “human error,” claiming that troops mistook the airliner for a cruise missile flying over Iranian airspace.
Families of the victims condemned the “sham” court ruling, claiming that ten low-level servicemembers were being punished with no information about their background or identities available. (RELATED: Biden Admin Reportedly Negotiating Sanctions Relief For Iran Nuclear Program)
The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims said the families “never recognized the Islamic Regime’s court as a legitimate tribunal,” according to CNN. The organization said it still considers the case to be open and would like to see it handled by the International Court of Justice.
The attack occurred hours after Iran launched a missile at a U.S. military base in Iraq, in retaliation for U.S. forces killing Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.