Get justice for MH17 victims
DUTCH officials announced on Wednesday last week that the trial of suspects arrested in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over war-torn eastern Ukraine will be held in the Netherlands.
Malaysia and the other countries most involved with the disaster decided on the matter after a long consultation. The countries involved are also members of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), namely the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.
We have yet to know the details of the trial and when it will begin. However, this latest development would bring relief to families, relatives and friends of the victims who have been waiting for years to get justice for their loved ones.
MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all the 298 people on board. The victims were from the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, Britain, Belgium, Germany, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand.
So far, the investigations carried out by the JIT have determined that the aircraft was shot down by a Russian BUK missile system fired from a field controlled by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Investigations by intelligence agencies in the United States and other countries have reached a similar conclusion.
However, the Russian Government has persistently denied involvement and instead pointed the finger at the Ukrainian Government.
In 2015, the Netherlands asked the United Nations (UN) to set up a special tribunal to investigate the incident and prosecute the perpetrator(s) but the proposal was vetoed by Russia.
The decision to bring the matter to the Dutch court is wise as this country has a long history in dealing with high-profile international cases. In fact, the well-known international courts, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, are located at The Hague.
As such, the Netherlands will be wellequipped to handle the MH17 case effectively and efficiently.
But we must take note that there could be a downside to this latest decision. The prime suspect in the case, Russia, may question the impartiality of the Dutch judges, given the high number of Dutch citizens involved (196). The Russian Government might regard the latest decision as heavily influenced by the United States and might hesitate or refuse entirely to give their full commitment and co-operation.
And if the culprits turn out to be Russian, the request to extradite the suspects might not be entertained, thus making it difficult for the Dutch court to enforce any final sentences.
As such, it would be better for us to start thinking of other avenues, just in case the latest effort fails. There are still other ways that can be pursued to get justice in this matter, like invoking local criminal laws in our country which have extra-territorial or extra-jurisdiction applications to punish those who shot down the plane. These include the Malaysian Penal Code (Act 574) and Aviation Offences Act 1984 (Act 307).
The issue can also be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was created specifically to protect people from genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. For many years, the ICC has proven itself to be an effective mechanism to address numerous issues relating to international crimes.
For the time being, the nations involved must support the decision to bring the case to the Dutch court. Other nations that are not directly involved must also render their full support and Russia, too, must respect the decision taken by the JIT.
DR MUZAFFAR SYAH MALLOW Faculty of Syariah and Law Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia