MH17 investigation team in Malaysia to discuss legal options

It will be two years in July when Malaysia Airlines MH17 was downed while it was flying over eastern Ukraine. And the joint international investigating team is still exploring various options to bring those responsible for bringing down the aircraft.

The investigating team is now in Malaysia to discuss various options with the authorities on how to take the matter forward, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said. "The Attorney-General in Malaysia and legal authorities in other countries are trying to find the best way to take this to court," he said.

The team has still not identified who to charge or what charges will be put forward against those accused of bringing down the plane. "We are operating on an assumption that there is a perpetrator that can be charged but by the time they are identified, we need to have a suitable avenue for a trial," Liow told Reuters.

He said that a criminal investigation was still on-going. MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, according to the Dutch Safety Board. The report however stopped short of blaming either Russia or Ukrainian rebels backed by the Russian Federation.

The Boeing 777 was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew members. All on-board the aircraft were killed. 196 of those killed were Dutch nationals.

Malaysia, the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and Ukraine have been exploring various alternative options, including trials in international and national courts after Russia vetoed a United Nations bid to set up a tribunal last July.