Long way to justice

MH17 charges welcomed but families must wait for answers

JULIE Bishop says grieving families will be relieved charges have been laid almost five years after Malaysia Airlines flight 17 was shot down, despite Russia’s efforts to rattle the investigation.

The former foreign minister’s successor Marise Payne says the charges and arrest warrants are an important step, but has stressed the path to justice will be a long one.

Dutch prosecutors have charged Russians Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov and Ukrainian Leonie Kharachenko over the mass killing in eastern Ukraine.

All four were officials in the pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic and were allegedly responsible for the Buk missile launcher being brought into the area from Russia. All 298 people on board were killed, including 38 Australians, in July 17, 2014, when their plane was downed as it flew over a part of eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russia separatists.

“I welcome this progress in the investigation of the shooting down of MH17 with the naming of these four individuals to be prosecuted for their role in what was a despicable crime,” Ms Bishop told ABC Radio yesterday.

“And I think it will be a relief to the families who deserve answers as to how their loved ones died aboard that plane.”

As foreign minister, Ms Bishop had doggedly pursued justice for the victims and their families.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has rejected the charges as “absolutely unfounded” and criticised investigators for using “dubious sources of information” and ignoring the evidence provided by Moscow in order to “discredit the Russian Federation”.

The four who have been charged will be tried in The Netherlands on March 9.

Senator Payne said laying charges is an important step in what will be a “long process”.

“It’s not going to be concluded overnight,” she told ABC radio.