Murder trial begins in Netherlands into MH17 plane downed in Ukraine

Wreckage from the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in a field near the village of Grabove, Ukraine. /Bulent Kilic/AFP

A Dutch judge said the impact of the MH17 disaster on the victims' families "is barely conceivable." He made the comments as the murder trial against four men accused in the downing of the aircraft began at the Schiphol Judicial Complex in the Netherlands on Monday.

"The court realizes the impact of the loss of so many lives and the manner in which they so abruptly ended is barely conceivable," said head judge Hendrik Steenhuis. For family members of the victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, the start of this trial was six years in the making.

"For me, the most important thing: will there be enough evidence that the judge can make a conclusion, Guilty. If that's the case, then I will be satisfied," said Anton Kotte, who lost his son Oscar, daughter-in-law Miranda and six-year-old grandson Remco in the catastrophe.

Kotte said he will be in court every single day.

The Netherlands is putting four people on trial over the downing of flight MH17. /CGTN

The plane was shot down over Ukraine in 2014. /CGTN

The trial is looking to give justice to the families of victims. /CGTN

Three Russians and a Ukrainian are accused of the murder of 298 people aboard the Malaysia Airlines flight. /CGTN

The defendants

Russians Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov along with Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko are charged with the murder of the 298 passengers and crew members aboard MH17.

The plane was blown out of the sky by a surface-to-air missile on 17 July 2014 above conflict-torn eastern Ukraine. Investigators claim the Russian military supplied that missile, something the Kremlin denies.

None of the defendants was in court on Monday and they are not expected to show for the entirety of the trial. Just one, Russian Oleg Pulatov, has mounted a defense. The others have waived that right.

"If there comes a verdict against them, they will lose some sleep, I think, because they are still dependent on the people in power in Russia and they can't move abroad. So it would limit their freedom as well," said Peter Langstraat, a lawyer representing the families of MH17 victims.

The first day of hearings was largely procedural. The court laid out how the trial will proceed and confirmed that the defendants were adequately summoned.

Then, in a powerful moment, the Dutch public prosecutor read out the names of all 298 victims.

What's next?
The trial is expected to last at least a year, although the families believe it could drag on for as long as five years. There is a trove of evidence to go through. The case file contains 36,000 documents and an enormous number of multimedia files.

During the trial, the court will hear from witnesses, experts and at least 49 family members, who have expressed interest in sharing with the court how the MH17 disaster has transformed their lives.