Philippines, 10 others agree to joint MH17 prosecution

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and 10 other countries whose citizens were victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 met at The Hague to cooperate on a joint judicial strategy.

The European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit or Eurojust announced in a statement on Tuesday (Manila time) that  states agreed to establish a joint investigation team focusing on the technical and forensic investigation in Ukraine, where the site of the crash is.

Representatives from the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, UK, Belgium, Germany, the Philippines, Canada, New Zealand, Indonesia and United States as well as Ukraine, Europol and Interpol discussed ways of "broadening and accelerating the investigations."

Han Moraal, chairman of the group and national member for the Netherlands at Eurojust, said that the meeting was a "vital step" to bringing a closure to the July 17 crash killing 298 people.

"The task is considerable, but with such a broad approach and willingness to work together, I hope that we can cooperate in an efficient and effective way to uncover the cause of the crash and seek justice for the 298 innocent victims and their grieving families," Moraal said.

Ukrainian armed forces mounted a major onslaught against pro-Russian separatist fighters Sunday in an attempt to gain control over the area where a Malaysia Airlines plane was downed earlier this month.

The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, released satellite images that it says back up its claims that rockets have been fired from Russia into eastern Ukraine and heavy artillery for separatists has also crossed the border. - with Associated press