Negotiations on establishment of MH17 tribunal being refined - Reezal Merican

Negotiations on the setting up of a tribunal for Malaysia Airlines MH17 which was shot down in Ukraine last year are being refined at the investigation team level, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican said a thorough investigation into the incident was still being conducted by the team.

"There is a proposal that the MH17 tribunal will be established in the Netherlands or through co-sponsors among the Joint Investigation Team members," he said when winding up the supplementary supply bill 2016 at the committee level for the ministry.

He asserted that Malaysia would continue to play an important role and work closely with the team to assist in the investigation led by the Netherlands.

In December last year, Malaysia was accepted as a full member of the MH17 Joint Investigation Team alongside the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and Ukraine.

The Boeing 777 plane which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew, including 44 Malaysians.

In response to a question from Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar (PKR-Tumpat) on the Group of Eight Islamic Developing Countries (D8), Reezal Merican said Malaysia would be elected as the D8 Secretary General from 2017 until 2020.