Malaysia condemns downing of MH17 plane

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (R) tables an emergency motion to condemn the suspected shooting of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine, at the Parliament house in Kuala Lumpur. (AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin)

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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Wednesday convened a special sitting of Parliament and strongly condemned the downing of Malaysia Airlines aircraft MH17 as uncivilised, inhuman and savage.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, in tabling a motion on the Flight MH17 tragedy, expressed Malaysia's disappointment and anger over the disrespect for the crash site as a prohibited zone and the delay in recovering the bodies. MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine last Thursday (July 17), It is believed to have been shot down.

"Nevertheless, as for now, we are not pointing fingers at anyone until the facts have been obtained," Najib said.

He said Malaysia also urged the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), as the guardian of civil aviation security, to strongly condemn the attack on Flight MH17, as had been done in cases of a similar nature before.

"Furthermore, shooting down the MH17 commercial aircraft is a most cruel act and a brutal and violent crime," he said.

Flight MH17 was flying 298 passengers and crew, 43 of them Malaysians, from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine last Thursday.

Najib said that besides welcoming the investigation by an independent international team, Malaysia also urged all quarters to cooperate to find out the cause of the tragedy.

"We seek and support an independent international investigation into the tragedy. Those responsible for this tragedy must be brought to justice," he said.

The prime minister said the United Nations had unanimously approved a resolution to press the separatists (in Ukraine) to provide unrestricted access to the crash site, besides effecting a ceasefire there.

Najib said he had instructed the Attorney-General to look into the tragedy and ensure that any action to be taken by Malaysia was in accordance with international law.

He also said that the agreement reached with Alexander Borodai, who is in command of the region where the crash took place, on access to the crash site for the international team of investigators and guarantee of their safety had yet to be fully effected.

Najib also raised several questions that demanded immediate answers pertaining to the incident, such as whether the aircraft was fired upon with a guided missile, who was the perpetrator of the crime and what was the motive for the attack.

At the same time, he stressed that no one should make any speculation that could bring embarrassment to the victims of the tragedy and their families.

"This is not the time to splash on the social media stories which could be factually wrong or false," he said.

Najib reiterated his stand that geopolitical upheavals did not benefit anyone, but only caused more human suffering as a result of the loss of loved ones.

The prime minister assured the families of the MH17 tragedy victims that the government would continue to demand justice and would not stop searching for the truth in the face of difficulties and hardship.

"Let us walk through this difficult time together, united in grief,” he said. “It is our hope that God will give us assistance and enlightenment for a solution."

Najib likened the MH17 tragedy to genocide and demanded that the murderers be brought to justice.

The prime minister thanked his political opponents Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang as well as other political party leaders for also condemning the incident.