Netherlands makes money available for prosecuting MH17 perpetrators

From 2018, the Netherlands is reserving money for prosecuting those responsible for the downing of flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, Dutch King Willem-Alexander revealed in his Budget Day speech on Tuesday afternoon.

"The government feels a lasting responsibility to do justice to the relatives and the victims of MH17", the King said, according to NU.nl's live blog on the event. "From 2018, money is reserved for the trial of the perpetrators of the attack, which will take place in the Netherlands."

Flight MH17 was shot down in eastern Ukraine on July 17th, 2014. All 298 people on board were killed, including 196 Dutch. So far the investigations by the Joint Investigation Team and the Dutch Safety Board determined that the plane was shot down by a Russian BUK missile system that was fired from a field in Ukraine that was controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

In July of this year, the five countries most involved in the MH17 disaster - Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine - agreed that the perpetrators behind the attack will be tried in the Netherlands.