Dutch-led Joint Investigations Team (JIT) looking into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine almost five years ago have named four suspects that will be charged for murder.
The passenger flight, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was fatally shot down by pro-Russia separatists over Hrabove in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. The attack killed all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.
38 Australians were among those who died.
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Investigators named three Russians – Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Poelatov – and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko as responsible for the tragedy, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The men are set to be prosecuted in a trial scheduled to start on March 9, 2020.
“We now have the information and proof that the Russian Federation is involved in this tragedy, in this crime,” Dutch chief prosecutor and JIT coordinator Fred Westerbeke said at a MH17 press conference in Nieuwegein, Netherlands.
The JIT worked alongside the Australian Federal Police last year when they confirmed flight MH17 was gunned down by a Russian army BUK -M1 missile. It was brought to a field in Pervomaisky, eastern Ukraine from a military base southwestern Russia.
All suspects have military backgrounds, whereas Mr. Kharchenko of Ukraine was the leader of a separatist group at the time of the incident.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne issued a statement on the charges, saying: “The downing of MH17 was a despicable act and the Australian Government has not stopped in the pursuit of justice for the 298 victims, including 38 Australians.”
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