The people responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 will be prosecuted by courts in the Netherlands, that country’s foreign ministry said Tuesday.
A total of 298 people from 17 countries died when the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was brought down in Eastern Ukraine in July 2014.
Officials have not identified any suspects.
The five countries — Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine — comprising the Joint Investigation Team decided any prosecutions would take place in a Dutch court, Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said.
“The ongoing criminal investigation enjoys virtually unanimous support from the international community,” Koenders said. “MH17 has shown how a shared tragedy can lead to close international cooperation and a determination to see that justice is done.”
A 2016 report from the group concluded that MH17 was downed by a Buk missile brought in from Russia and fired from a Ukrainian village under the control of pro-Russian separatists.
Russia, which has repeatedly denied involvement in the downing of the Boeing 777, vetoed a 2015 UN Security Council resolution that would have created an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson expressed support for the decision, calling it “a critical step in holding to account those responsible for this tragedy.”
“The UK offers its full support and cooperation towards the prosecution process, and I urge all other states to do the same as laid out in UN Security Council Resolution 2166,” Johnson added.
Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop applauded the decision.
“The JIT’s decision to support a Dutch national prosecution will ensure that results from the investigation are taken into account and that justice for the victims and their families, including the 38 people who called Australia home, is delivered,” Turnbull and Bishop said in their statement.
Most of the 283 passengers on the flight were Dutch.
