Mark
Rutte's government is lobbying for the creation of a UN tribunal, which would
prosecute suspects in downing of the Malaysian plane, officials have said. Most
of the 298 victims in last year's incident were Dutch.
Deutsche Welle, 3 July 2015
A UN
tribunal would give "the best guarantee of cooperation from all
countries" in seeking justice, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday.
The news comes only a day after Malaysia announced it would file a draft
resolution calling for such a tribunal to be established.
"Based
on all insights, information and advice, we say this is by far the
most-preferred route. We do have a back-up plan, but a UN tribunal is our best
option," said Rutte, stating the official stance of his government in the
Netherlands for the first time.
Flight MH17
was likely shot down over Ukraine battlefields last year, sparking
international outrage. Authorities in Kyiv and the pro-Russian rebels still
trade accusations on who might have fired the alleged missile which hit the
civilian plane.
The
incident, which killed 298, also raised the stakes in the stand-off between
Russia and the West, with each supporting a narrative compatible with their own
interests.
'More
questions' than answers
The MH17
crash is being investigated by a team of international experts from the
Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Ukraine and Belgium. Although no suspects
have been named yet, the team recently announced it is looking into severalpeople including potential "decision-makers as well as perpetrators."
On
Thursday, a Russian aviation official criticized a draft report by the Dutch
Safety Board, saying it "raises more questions than it gives
answers." The confidential report was made available to representatives of
Malaysia, Ukraine, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia and
the Netherlands in early June.
Malaysian
idea open to consideration
Russian
representatives criticized the Malaysian initiative on Thursday, with Deputy
Foreign Minister Gennadiy Gatilov calling it "not timely, and
counterproductive." However, Russia did not raise formal objections after
Malaysia presented its case in the UN Security Council.
"Our
sense was that all council members, including Russia, were open to further
consider the matter," said Malaysian diplomat Johan Ariff Abdul Razak.
dj/msh (AP, Reuters, AFP)
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