PETALING JAYA: The main phase of the criminal trial on the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine is expected to begin in June next year.
The District Court of The Hague said the pre-trial stage of proceedings were concluded on Nov 25, with the case referred to the examining magistrate for additional investigation.
In a statement, it said the magistrate had notified the court on the investigation’s progress, with which it has drafted a provisional schedule.
The next hearing will be on Feb 1, 2021, to address how the additional investigation is progressing, the status of damage claims submitted by relatives and the public prosecution service’s application to inspect the reconstruction of the downed plane.
It said the hearing on April 15 will then decide whether to allow the inspection, adding that this is expected to be conducted in May if the court decides to approve the application.
“If the investigation by the examining magistrate proceeds as expected, the court will start the hearing on the merits in the MH17 criminal trial on Monday 7 June 2021.
“The court expects that the relatives of the victims of Flight MH17 will be able to exercise their right to address the court after the summer of 2021. When the criminal trial will conclude remains unclear at this time,” it said.
MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by a missile fired from territory held by pro-Moscow rebels amid fighting with Ukrainian troops, killing all 298 aboard.
The suspects all held senior posts in pro-Russian militias in eastern Ukraine in 2014, according to prosecutors. They face preliminary charges of murder and of causing an aircraft to crash.
Prosecutors say the four men helped to arrange for the Russian missile system used to shoot down MH17, a civilian aircraft, killing all on board.
It was previously reported that the aircraft’s downing led to sanctions against Moscow by the European Union (EU). It also heightened political tension between Russia and Western powers who blame it for the disaster, which killed 193 Dutch, 43 Malaysian and 27 Australian nationals, among others.