Suspects of MH17 downing might be confirmed by end of 2016

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Sunday the names of those responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 might be confirmed by the end of the year.

Censor.NET reports citing Reuters.

"By the end of the year, maybe early next year, the list of those that we believe should be held accountable will be confirmed and then there must be a prosecution," Bishop said.

Bishop said the culprits could face an international tribunal, similar to the one used to prosecute those responsible for the 1988 bombing of a PanAm flight over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Earlier inquiry by the Dutch Safety Board concluded a missile fired by a sophisticated Buk surface-to-air system hit the Malaysia Airlines aircraft as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014. The missile exploded next to the cockpit. All 298 people on board were killed.

An international criminal investigation into the shooting down of flight MH17 concluded that the plane was downed by a Buk missile fired from separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine, and the launcher was smuggled back to Russia.