MH17 Crash Probe Expected to Be Completed Before End of 2016 - Malaysian PM

The criminal investigation report on the flight MH17 is expected to be tabled towards the end of 2016, according to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — An international investigation report into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine is set to be published until the end of this year, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Thursday.

"We are waiting for the criminal investigation report [on the flight MH17] that is expected to be tabled towards the end of this year," Najib said during a press conference in Kiev after a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

He added that after the criminal report is published the five countries comprising the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) — Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, Malaysia and Ukraine — would call a meeting to determine a plan of action to bring perpetrators to justice.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed with 298 people on board on July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine, while en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, leaving no survivors. Kiev and independence supporters in Ukraine’s southeast have blamed each other for the downing of the MH17 plane.

Dutch investigators published a report in October 2015 claiming that the Malaysia Airlines aircraft appeared to have been downed using a Russia-produced Buk surface-to-air missile system. The report did not identify the exact location from where the missile was fired.