Key Points
- Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Ukrainian separatist Leonid Kharchenko, were sentenced to life in prison.
- A fourth man, Russian Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted on all charges.
- Relatives of the victims have described the decision as a 'relief'.
Australia is demanding Russia hand over three men who have been found guilty in the 2014 shooting down of flight MH17 by a Dutch court overnight.
A court ruling in the Netherlands found two Russians and a Ukrainian national guilty in the downing of the passenger flight , killing all 298 passengers and crew including 38 Australians.
But the families have acknowledged the convicted trio may never see the inside of a prison cell.
The three men, former Russian intelligence agents Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian separatist leader, were tried in absentia and sentenced to life in prison. A fourth man was acquitted.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong called on Russia to surrender the convicted, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We would say to Russia, the world knows that you're harbouring murderers, and that says something about you Mr Putin," she told ABC News on Friday.
Paul Guard and his 7-year-old daughter Emma at the MH17 memorial in the Netherlands this week. Source: Supplied / Paul Guard
"Our thoughts today are with the family and friends who lost loved ones in that atrocity," he said.
The prime minister also lauded the co-operation between Australian and Dutch authorities in pursuing the matter.
Paul Guard, who lost his parents in the attack, described it as an "important process, and one that has taken a long time".
"The court laid out very methodically what the evidence was and how it had come to its conclusions. There was enough evidence to show these three men were responsible for bringing down that plane," he told SBS News.
Relatives of Australian couple Michael and Carol Clancy, who were also killed on the flight, described the decision as a 'relief'.
Michael's brother, Bryan Clancy, told SBS News said the verdict meant "the truth is out there".
"I think it's a good result today. It hasn't changed anything really, it's just changed that the world knows now," he said.
Bryan's wife, Lisa, said the verdict meant justice for Michael and Carol.
"We're under no illusion, we know that they'll never see the inside of a prison cell, but that's enough for me at the moment," she said.
stood weeping and wiping away tears in the courtroom as Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis read the verdict.
"Only the most severe punishment is fitting to retaliate for what the suspects have done, which has caused so much suffering to so many victims and so many surviving relatives," Judge Steenhuis said on Thursday, reading a summary of the ruling.
At the time, the area was the scene of fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces, the precursor of this year's conflict.
Judge Steenhuis said the men did not enjoy any immunity from prosecution as they were not members of the Russian armed services.
Victims' relatives hugged each other as they awaited the verdict. Source: AFP / JOHN THYS
representatives said the ruling is an important milestone, though the suspects remain fugitives. They are all believed to be in Russia, which will not extradite them.
Moscow denies any involvement or responsibility for MH17's downing and in 2014 it also denied any presence in Ukraine.
In a briefing in Moscow on Thursday, Deputy Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ivan Nechaev told reporters the government would examine the court's findings.
"We will study this decision because in all these issues, every nuance matters," he said.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the judgement sent a strong message that all Russian war criminals should be brought to justice.
"It can be said that this is the strongest signal to the whole world, including Russia itself, that every war crime committed by the Russians will be documented, investigated and brought to a conclusion. No matter how much time it takes," he told Reuters.
The four men were charged with shooting down an airplane and with murder in a trial that was held under Dutch law.
Phone call intercepts that formed a key part of the evidence against the men suggested they believed they were targeting a Ukrainian fighter jet.
Of the suspects, only Mr Pulatov had pleaded not guilty via lawyers he hired to represent him. The others were tried in absentia and none attended the trial.
Victims of MH17, which had been en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, came from 10 different countries. More than half were Dutch.
The investigation was led by the Netherlands, with participation from Ukraine, Malaysia, Australia and Belgium.
A fourth man, Russian Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted on all charges.
With AAP
