MH17 flight: Dutch prosecutors start closing arguments over downed Malaysian Airlines passenger jet
- All 298 people on board MH17 died in July 2014 when plane was shot down over Ukraine by missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels
- Three Russians and a Ukrainian could face life sentences if found guilty of helping supply missile system; none of them appeared in court
Dutch prosecutors have begun three days of closing arguments during which they will make their sentencing demands in the 20-month-trial of the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine.
Three Russians and a Ukrainian could face sentences of up to life imprisonment if found guilty of helping supply the missile system used to fire a rocket at the passenger jet as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
All 298 people on board were killed.
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A sentencing demand was expected on Wednesday.
Prosecutors presenting their closing arguments on Monday said the plane was shot down by a Russian-made missile.
Prosecutor Thijs Berger recalled the moment on July 17, 2014 when Ukrainian air traffic control lost contact with flight MH17.
“At that moment a warhead from a BUK missile detonated to the left of the cockpit, shrapnel and missile parts pierced the left of the cockpit and the accompanying blast does the rest,” Berger said.
