Dutch court sentences three to life for flight MH17 downing

A Dutch court has sentenced three men to life imprisonment in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine 2014, in the early stages of a war that eight years later would put the world on edge.

Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko were found guilty in absentia of murdering all 298 people on board and of bringing down the Boeing 777 with a Russian-supplied missile. A fourth man was acquitted.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the "important" court ruling.

Relatives of MH17 victims blinked away tears as the verdicts were read out in a courtroom packed with families who had travelled from around the world for the end of the two-and-a-half-year trial.

"The court calls the proven charges so severe that it holds that only the highest possible prison sentence would be appropriate," head judge Hendrik Steenhuis said.

"Imposing these sentences cannot take away the pain and suffering, but there's hope that today clarity has been provided about who is to blame."

But none of the suspects was at the high-security court on the outskirts of Schiphol Airport, where the doomed plane took off, after Russia refused to extradite them.

READ MORE: MH17 victims' relatives protest Russian actions with 298 empty chairs

'Justice has spoken'

The trial represents the end of a long search for justice for the victims of the disaster, who came from 10 countries, including 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australians.

"Justice has spoken. We wanted justice to be done and that happened, in a very well-balanced verdict," Piet Ploeg, chairman of the MH17 foundation, who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew, told AFP news agency.

"The role of Russia has been very clearly confirmed by the court."

Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was cruising at 33,000 feet over war-torn eastern Ukraine when a BUK missile exploded near the cockpit on July 17, 2014, tearing the plane apart.

Judges found Girkin, Dubinsky and Kharchenko could all be held responsible for the transport of the missile from a military base in Russia and deploying it to the launch site – even if they did not pull the trigger.

There was not enough evidence to show the involvement of Oleg Pulatov, the only suspect to have legal representation during the trial, they said.

READ MORE: Investigators identify Russian military unit in downing of flight MH17