This decision occurs nearly two years after the drama, when an Iranian missile shot down a Ukrainian airliner in Tehran, killing the 176 passengers. The Iranian armed forces had recognized three days later having touched the device “by mistake”.
Le Monde with AFP
Nearly two years after the drama, a Canadian court ordered, Monday, January 3, that financial compensation be paid compensation to the families of six victims of the crash of a Ukrainian airliner, shot down in Tehran by a Iranian missile.
In a decision of the Ontario Superior Court, the judge granted complainants $ 107 million (€ 74 million) of compensation, plus interest. No details were given on how Iran will provide this money, but the judge said “convinced that a certain level of execution could be possible and that a certain level of deterrence could well be established “.
On January 8, 2020, a flight to Kiev Téhran to Kiev, from the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), killing the 176 people on board, including 85 Canadian citizens or permanent residents. The Iranian armed forces had recognized three days later having shot the device “by mistake”.
“Money will not bring us our loved ones”
In press conference Tuesday, families’ lawyers, Mark Arnold and Jonah Arnold, threatened to seize Iranian assets since, in their view, “the execution of the judgment is undoubtedly challenges”. “We know where the Iranian assets are, we know where they are in Canada and we know where they are abroad,” said Mark Arnold.
“If someone from the Islamic Republic of Iran or if the Supreme Guide participates in this call … We will recover your assets, gentlemen in Iran!”, warned the lawyer. “The money will not bring us our loved ones,” however, reacted Shahin Moghaddam, one of the five complainants, whose wife and son perished in the accident. “The goal of this battle was to get justice as much as possible,” he added.
The defense of the complainants urged the Canadian government to cooperate on this issue so that families can get this amount. The judge concluded, in May 2021, that Iran had committed a “terrorist” act by slaughtering the Ukrainian Boeing, paving the way for a claim for compensation for families of victims. In the wake, Tehran had denounced the judgment, stating that the verdict had “no foundation” and saying that the Canadian Tribunal was not competent to make such a decision.
Promise of compensation. $ 150,000
In its final report unveiled in March, the organization of Iranian civil aviation (CAD) bleached its armed forces. Ukraine denounced a “cynical attempt to hide the true causes” and Ottawa an “incomplete” report and without “tangible evidence”.
In mid-December, a regrouping of four countries – Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Ukraine – launched an ultimatum in Tehran, giving it three weeks to confirm its participation in the negotiations concerning compensation negotiations Families after several unsuccessful attempts.
In 2020, Iran said he wanted to pour “$ 150,000 or the equivalent in euros” to each of the families of the victims of the crash. This announcement had been criticized, including by Kiev and the head of the Canadian diplomacy of the time, François-Philippe Champagne. “The issue of compensation will not be settled by unilateral declarations of Iran, but should rather be the subject of negotiations between States,” he said on the day before the first anniversary of the tragedy.