ULAANBAATAR: Malaysia and the Netherlands are committed to continue investigations and bring to justice those responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, two years after the tragedy.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the commitment was made during a bilateral meeting between him and the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) Summit here on Friday.
During the meeting, Zahid, who is also the home minister, said Rutte had updated him on the investigations and both of them had agreed to bring those responsible to justice.
“This was also the common stand of our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Rutte before,” he told a press conference for the Malaysian media here yesterday.
Zahid, however, said the date for prosecuting the perpetrators would depend on the International Court of Justice’s decision.
The Boeing 777 aircraft was shot down while cruising above an area of hostilities in Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.
Dutch Safety Board chairman Tjibbe Joustra last year confirmed that it was shot down by a Buk surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine.
The report came out after 15 months of investigation undertaken by a joint team from the Netherlands, Ukraine, Malaysia, Australia, United Kingdom, the United States and Russia.-nst