KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — In an open plea, the family members of three Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 passengers asked to be given a chance to continue their lawsuit against the Malaysian government, whom they hold accountable for the nearly two-year disappearance of their loved ones.

Chuang Ching-Chiang, the brother of missing passenger Chuang Hsiu-Ling, said he hoped the courts will keep the Malaysian government and three others named in a list of their negligence lawsuit.

“In my opinion, to allow these defendants to be removed from the suit at this early stage effectively denies the plaintiffs’ right to question, to seek justice and exempts defendants from being accountable for their actions or inactions related to the disappearance of MH370.

“The decision of the court in this matter is of utmost significance to our family and all stakeholders of MH370. We hope the learned judge will retain all defendants in this lawsuit,” he said in the English version of a statement handed out to the media.

Ching-Chiang said these four defendants must be part of the lawsuit, claiming that there are many questions, factual information relating to their actions and inactions “that remains unaccounted for and must be tried at the court of law.”

He said he hoped to know the “truth” and also wants the relevant parties to give an account or explanation as the second anniversary of the March 8, 2014 draws near.

The two brothers of Hsiu-Ling’s husband and fellow MH370 passenger Tan Ah Meng — Tan Kim Theng and Tan Peng Fatt — were also present in court today.

On August 28, 2015, five family members filed the suit to seek compensation over the loss of Tan Ah Meng and his wife Cindy Chuang Hsiu Ling aged 46 and 45, and their eldest son Tan Wei Chew aged 19.

The suit was filed by the couple’s two other children, then aged 15 and 13; Ah Meng’s parents Tan Hun Khong and Lai Chew Lai, then aged 84 and 82; and Hsiu Ling’s Taiwanese mother Chuang Hung Chien, then aged 75.

(From left) Chuang Ching-Chiang is the brother of MH370 passenger Chuang Hsiu-Ling, while Tan Peng Fatt and Tan Kim Theng are the brothers of MH370 passenger Tan Ah Meng in this picture taken on March 4, 2016 in Kuala Lumpur.

Today, their lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo said the court allowed an application to substitute Ah Meng’s brother Tan Peng Fatt in place of Tan Hun Khong, who had died earlier on.

They are seeking a public apology to the plaintiffs, compensation for loss of support, general damages, aggravated and exemplary damages, costs, interest and other relief deemed fit by the court.

The five had named Malaysia Airlines System Berhad (MAS), the Government of Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), the director-general of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) and the commander of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) as the five respondents of the suit.

The latter four had last December 23 applied to strike out the lawsuit.

Today was the hearing of the two separate striking out applications by MAB and the other three.

High Court judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab has fixed March 30 to deliver his decision on their applications.

MAS, who was the airline operator at the time of the MH370 flight and has since transferred its operations to MAB, did not file an application to strike out the suit against it for alleged negligence and breach of contract.

On January 29, 2015, Putrajaya declared Flight MH370 an accident under international aviation regulations, and all 239 people on board the flight were presumed dead.