KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 — The Malaysian government will not rest until those responsible for shooting down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 are brought to justice, the Transport Ministry said today.
In a message on the fifth anniversary of the tragedy, the ministry said the passage of time has not weakened Putrajaya’s resolve to seek fairness and resolution for the families of those on board the plane shot down over Ukraine by suspected pro-Russian separatists.
“The Malaysian government will continue to pursue those who were responsible for this heinous crime, and secure justice for the victims.
“Without a doubt, every family and the next of kin who are affected by this tragedy deserves to see justice. We sincerely hope that this will bring some measure of comfort and solace to the families and the next-of-kin of those who were lost in this tragedy,” the ministry said.
It said Malaysia will continue its cooperation with the multinational Joint Investigation Team and affected nations in the matter.
Malaysia will also not stop until it has exhausted every avenue available to bring those responsible for the incident to answer for the crime, the ministry added.
MH17 was shot down while flying from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Kuala Lumpur exactly five years ago today.
All 298 people were killed.
Last year, the JIT asserted that the BUK anti-aircraft missile used to shoot down MH17 was fired from the 53rd Russian military brigade based in Russia’s southwestern city of Kursk.
Last month, it named three Russians and one Ukrainian as the primary suspects responsible for the shooting.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad responded by describing the JIT’s findings as “politically motivated”.
Dr Mahathir said Malaysia was “very unhappy” from the outset as it believed the probe was prejudiced against Russia.
