He said the decision of the Hague District Court has set an important benchmark in the quest to find the truth and bring justice to the 298 victims, including 43 Malaysians, who died in the tragedy, as well as their families and next of kin.

“Malaysia’s stance has always been that the trial should be based on truth, justice and responsibility. In this context, Malaysia fully supports the decision made by the court,” Bernama quoted him as saying at a press conference in Bera, Pahang.

The Boeing 777 aircraft was downed by a BUK missile while flying over conflict-hit eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.

In its verdict yesterday, the Dutch court sentenced two Russians and a Ukrainian in absentia to life imprisonment after finding them guilty on charges of causing the crash of flight MH17 and the murders of the 298 on board.

They are Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko. However, the court acquitted another Russian, Oleg Pulatov, of the same charges.

Presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis, who read a summary of the judgment, said the court had no doubt that MH17 was hit by a Russian-made BUK missile fired from the farm near Pervomaisk in eastern Ukraine.

He also ordered the three men to pay more than €16 million (RM75.26 million) in compensation to relatives of the victims.

Ismail expressed appreciation to the joint investigation team comprising the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and Ukraine, who had worked tirelessly in investigating the tragedy.