Malaysia to start its own independent investigation into MH17 tragedy over Ukraine
The Malaysian government has said that it will start an independent investigation into the alleged shooting down of a Malaysian civil aircraft in Ukrainian air space
Recently, a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak in Sochi led to the two leaders agreeing to coordinate an investigation into circumstances that downed the plane over Ukraine.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down about 50 km from the Ukraine–Russia border and crashed near Torez in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. All 300 passengers and crew were killed.
After a meeting with Vladimir Putin, Malaysian PM Najib Razak said, “I saw that we made positive steps on the path to justice for families and victims of MH17 when the Russian President and I agreed that after our next steps will be determined, we will outline the research results of the joint investigation team in October.” Making a call to reject speculation, Najib also urged the importance to refrain from premature conclusions. Meanwhile, the Minister of Transport in Malaysia has reportedly sent a letter to the Dutch Commission requesting that a Russian expert be included in the investigation team.
Following the development, Ukraine complained to US Secretary of State John Kerry that Russia had managed to get Malaysia on its side. Ukrainian authorities also asked US authorities to prevent the joint investigation to be conducted by Russia and Malaysia. Lack of evidence to implicate Russia has prompted Malaysia to investigate the issue. Since the airplane belonged to Malaysia, it has the right to seek a reason that caused the crash of the flight. The move is an indication that the nation is not happy with the findings of Dutch investigators.
Malaysian officials also said that Russia was very supportive during the initial days of the crash. However, Russian presence in official investigations was denied at the time, even though Malaysia had explicitly requested for it.
Furthermore, all independent findings of Russian investigators were avoided. After the meeting between the heads of the states, Transport Minister of Malaysia, Liow Tiong Lai sent a letter to the Commission of Inquiry of the Netherlands requesting that Russia be included in the investigations. The request set off an alarm as Malaysia’s claim cannot be refused. This has made international observers suspicious on why Ukraine is reluctant to include Russian experts in the probe team.
Russia had earlier requested the UN to consider its findings to analyse the case. Russian authorities have always maintained that the Dutch commission had started investigations based on a prejudiced assumption and had worked backward to prove it. Russia has since maintained that it has evidence, which could reveal more information on the crash.
The deputy chief of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Oleg Storchevoy, said, that Dutch investigators had ignored the principle of “sequence of conclusions,” one of the most fundamental rules when conducting probes into air crashes.
Even if Russian officials are not included in the Dutch investigative Commission, Russia and Malaysia have agreed to announce the results of their own investigation in October 2016.
