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Dutch premier Rutte, Russian president Putin discuss setup of UN tribunal on MH17

Xinhua, July 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was in discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday morning about the setup of a special United Nations (UN) tribunal for the prosecution of those responsible for the crash of flight MH17, the Dutch government press office told Xinhua.

The Malaysia Airlines plane was brought down on July 17, 2014 when it was flying over the warzone in east Ukraine en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board, 196 of whom were Dutch.

Immediately following the tragedy involving the commercial airline, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution that those suspected of bringing down flight MH17 should be prosecuted.

Rutte spoke with Putin about "the effort of the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, Belgium and Ukraine for the creation of a special UN tribunal for the prosecution of possible suspects following the disaster of MH17," the press officer told Xinhua.

"The talk is part of a series of discussions that Rutte is holding with government leaders in support of the diplomatic efforts to set up a tribunal," the press officer said.

According to other reports, Putin on Thursday expressed opposition to the formation of an international criminal tribunal for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 a year ago.

Calls for such a tribunal are counterproductive, Putin told Rutte, whose country plays a leading role in the international investigation of the incident, in the telephone conversation.

The five countries undertaking the independent criminal investigation into the accident, namely Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, on Tuesday asked the UN Security Council to establish an international criminal tribunal to try those responsible for the downing of the passenger jet.

Putin said the international investigation should be "thorough and objective" and in full compliance with UN Resolution 2166.

Oleg Storchevoy, deputy head of the Russian Air Transport Agency, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that Russia has already handed over all the available data about the tragedy that it has gotten, including the information from radar stations. Endit