Ontario Superior Court labels Iran’s downing of Flight 752 ‘Intentional Act of Terrorism’

According to Nahayat Tizhoosh of CBC News, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has declared the January 8th 2020 shooting of Ukraine Airlines Flight 752 an Intentional Act of Terrorism.

Last month a Ukranian security official remarked on their conclusion that it was as much.

The document says:

“The Decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice is unprecedented in Canadian law. It is significant for the impact it will have on immediate surviving family members seeking justice.”

The 2012 Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act and the State Immunity Act allowed for such a case to be decided on in Canada.

The document explains that surviving family members of the 75 dead Canadians on board that aircraft have pursued litigation against the “Islamic Republic of Iran” over the matter. Given the lack of defense from Iran’s side, the Court’s findings were inclined to side with surviving family members over their rights to sue.

Out of the four pages of notes we have available today, we see the court’s conclusions are based in part on the fact that Iran wasn’t in any armed conflict at the time. By that meaning there was no way of really mistaking the aircraft as an enemy plane.

While President Trump carried out a drone strike against Iran's Qasem Soleimani days before Flight 752's crash, in the interim it was made clear that neither country was going to engage in war with each other. However it's noted that at the time Iran wanted some kind of vengeance.

The court is also expected to grant $157,569 to plaintiffs for fees and court costs in pursuit of this litigation.