Dutch prosecutors demand life sentences in MH17 downing

Dutch prosecutors have demanded life sentences against four suspects in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014

SCHIPHOL, Netherlands -- Dutch prosecutors on Wednesday demanded life sentences for four suspects in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Prosecutors said the four recklessly used a Russian missile to bring down the passenger jet, killing all 298 passengers and crew.

Public prosecutor Manon Ridderbeks made the sentence demand at the end of a three-day presentation of evidence. The suspects are being tried in absentia.

“The downing of MH17 with a Buk missile brutally ended the lives of all 298 people on board. Incredibly deep and irreversible suffering has been caused to the next of kin,” Ridderbeks told the court.