"Access Info calls on the Dutch government to review their refusal with a view to providing, at the very least, access to the factual information contained in the documents requested," Pam Bartlett Quintanilla said.
Dutch Minister for Security and Justice Ard van der Steur replied to the request by saying that the fact that it related to information about the handling of the MH17 disaster "does not give extra weight to the importance of public access."
Quintanilla stressed that the ministry should take into account the harm that publishing this information could cause, "but then weigh that potential harm against the public interest in accessing the information — which in the Netherlands is particularly high given the number of Dutch citizens that were on that plane."
In October 2014, RTL Nieuws asked Dutch authorities to disclose information on the ongoing investigation into the plane crash. In February 2015, some redacted documents were released in response to the request.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine's southeastern Donetsk region on July 17, 2014, when it was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board were killed in the disaster, 196 of whom were Dutch citizens.
