MH17: Malaysia and others await completion of criminal probe to file charges

Malaysia and the other four member states of the Joint Investigation Team or JIT are waiting for the completion of the criminal probe into the shootdown of Flight MH17 before filing charges.

"With the report (on the completed investigation), we should be able to file charges to find the truth of the incident and bring justice to the victims (of the crash)," said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He told a press conference here that JIT - comprising experts from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine - was looking for other means to try those responsible, including using the International Court of Justice.

The Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

In July last year, Malaysia, backed by the other members of JIT, pushed for an international tribunal to try the culprits, but Russia used its veto power in the United Nations to block the setting up of such a body.

Liow said experts of JIT were in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday to look into ways of continuing with the MH17 case.

"Our attorney general and (his counterparts in) the other countries are working together to find the best way to take the case to court," he added.

As regards Flight MH370, Liow said Malaysia would send a search team as soon as possible to South Africa to look for more debris related to the missing plane.

READ: Mozambique debris almost certainly from MH370 - Liow Tiong Lai

He said the team would depart once the South African authorities give their approval.

Liow said the search would concentrate along the coastline where the first debris was found in the remote La Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.