KUALA LUMPUR: Australia remains committed and determined to seek justice for the victims of MH17 and will work with Malaysia and others to establish an effective prosecution model.

Australia Foreign Minister Julie Bishop when delivering her opening remarks during the Australia-Asean Ministerial Meeting, which is part of the Asean 48th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM), said impunity could not be allowed when it came to the bringing down of a commercial airline in commercial airspace with innocent victims on board.

“It would send a dangerous message to terrorists and non-state actors that the international community is too weak to unite to resolve this crime,” Bishop said.

She also expressed gratitude to Malaysia for its effort towards establishing an international criminal tribunal through the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to try those responsible for bringing down MH17.

“We deeply appreciate Malaysia’s efforts and deeply regret Russia’s veto of the draft resolution on July 29,” she said.

Bishop said Australia remains committed to the implementation of the UNSC Resolution 2166, which demanded that those responsible for the tragedy be held accountable, and all states to cooperate fully in the efforts to establish accountability.

On the disappearance of MH370, she said there was some hope that the solution might be closer. “In the meantime, Australia will continue to lead search efforts in the search area in the Indian and South oceans,” she added.

– http://www.nst.com.my