“DISAPPOINTMENT”
The victims of the disaster – which triggered international outrage and sanctions against Russia – came from 10 countries, including 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australian residents.
Families of the victims said they were disappointed by the decision to halt the investigation.
“We had hoped for more – but we didn’t count on it,” said MH17 foundation chairman Piet Ploeg, who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew on MH17.
Investigators said they felt they had achieved more than they thought possible in 2014.
“Would we have liked to come further? Of course, yes,” said Andy Kraag, head of the Dutch National Criminal Investigation Department, adding that “the answer remains in Russia”.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus on Thursday said Russia had repeatedly tried to thwart the investigation, making it “impossible” to collect proof.
“Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine and its lack of cooperation with the investigation have rendered ongoing investigative efforts and the collection of evidence impossible at this time,” they said in a joint statement.
They added that Australia would “hold Russia to account for its role in the downing of the civilian aircraft”.
The MH17 probe has not closed and will keep its hotlines and website open, officials added.
The evidence it has gathered could also be used by other tribunals including the International Criminal Court, or the European Court of Human Rights, which has ruled that most complaints lodged by the Netherlands against Russia are admissible.
The three men convicted last year – Russians Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko – remain at large and are unlikely to ever serve their life sentences.
Girkin has since become a high-profile critic of Russia’s military policy in Ukraine, criticising earlier retreats by Moscow’s troops.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
