The Netherlands asks to set up UN court to prosecute MH17 crash suspects

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the Netherlands, together with Malaysia, Belgium, Australia and Ukraine, was going to request the United Nations (UN) set up a tribunal to prosecute the suspects in the MH17 plane crash.

"From the beginning, justice for the victims has always been our priority," Rutte said during his weekly press conference on Friday.

"Now we ask the UN for its support to set up an international tribunal," said Rutte.

On July 17 last year, Malaysian airlines flight MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was brought down over the warzone in East Ukraine. All 298 people on board the plane were killed in the disaster, most of them Dutch.

Just this week, a draft report on the first investigation into the disaster was sent out.

Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bert Koenders, said: "We just want to explore this option before the final report is ready, because otherwise the discussion will quickly be made into a political one."

Malaysia this year is a temporary member of the Security Council, and according to Koenders that leads to the advantage that the feasibility of a tribunal can be sorted out properly.

"A tribunal set up by the UN gives great legitimacy and the chance of prosecution is bigger as well. But it's not a guarantee," Koenders said. Endit