Malaysia To Spend Over $5.7Mln On MH17 Trial Next Year - Transport Minister

BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2020) Malaysia will spend more than $5.7 million next year on the trial of alleged perpetrators in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 that is taking place in the Netherlands, Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said Monday.

"The trial is currently ongoing and the RM23.32mil [$5.73 million] is 30% of the trial cost which the government will bear next year to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice," Wee said at the budget hearing at the country's lower house, as quoted by The Star newspaper, adding that the sum will cover lawyers' fees and court costs.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down on July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine on its way to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam. All 298 people on board died.

The trial of four suspects � Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko � began in March in the Netherlands, but had to be adjourned over the COVID-19 pandemic. The hearings are still underway.