MH17 aircraft wreckage viewed by judges ahead of next phase of trial

Presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis (3L), and other trial judges and lawyers view the reconstructed wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, at the Gilze-Rijen military Airbase, southern Netherlands on May 26,2021. - AFP

GILZE-RIJEN AIR BASE, Netherlands: Judges overseeing the murder trial of four suspects in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over rebel-held eastern Ukraine viewed the wreckage of the plane on Wednesday, two weeks before prosecutors are due to present their case.

MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit with a missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels during fighting with Ukrainian government troops, international investigators have concluded. All 298 people on board were killed, two thirds of them Dutch nationals.