Malaysia has held a memorial service to mark the anniversary of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, which killed all 298 people aboard.
The Boeing 777 was shot down over eastern Ukrainian territory held by pro-Russia separatists fighting Ukrainian government forces, by a Russian-made Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded in an October 2015 report.
More than 90 family members attended the memorial. This was followed by an official briefing on the ongoing investigation into the downing of Flight MH17.
Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told reporters after the event, which was closed to the media, that the investigation is “very detailed and we are quite convinced that we will be able to find the culprits.”
A Dutch-led team of investigators from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, and Ukraine, concluded in September that the rocket was fired from territory in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian separatists. That finding contradicts Russia’s suggestion that the aircraft was brought down by Ukraine’s military, not the separatists.
Mohammad Salim Sarmo, 68, whose son was on board Flight MH17, said he had been waiting for justice. “We were told that it’s just a matter of time before they can be brought to justice … this is a decision that we’ve been waiting for,” he said. Victims of the disaster came from 17 countries, including 196 Dutch citizens.
The Dutch government said earlier this month that the suspects will be prosecuted in The Netherlands.
