Dr M says Russia being made a scapegoat for downing of MH17
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he is unhappy that the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 had been turned into a political issue.
He claimed this was because certain countries had assigned blame even before the conclusion of investigations.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he is unhappy that the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 had been turned into a political issue.
He claimed this was because certain countries had assigned blame even before the conclusion of investigations.
"We are unhappy because, from the very beginning, it became a political issue on how to accuse Russia of wrongdoing.
"Even before they examined, they already said Russia. Now they say they have proof so it is very difficult for us to accept that," he told journalists in Putrajaya today.
Yesterday, a Dutch-led international team named four suspects as being responsible for the downing of Flight MH17 over Ukraine on July 17, 2014, which claimed the lives of 283 passengers and 15 crew.
Of the 298 people on board, 193 were from the Netherlands. Malaysians made the second largest group at 43 people followed by Australia at 27. The Boeing 777 was shot down with an anti-aircraft missile.
The named suspects were Russians Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Igor Girkin and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko,
Netherlands and Australia had previously said they held Russia responsible for the downing of the plane. Russia, which is accused of supporting and supplying missiles to separatist forces in Ukraine, has denied the allegations.
Mahathir today expressed scepticism at placing responsibility on the Russians.
"I wouldn't think a politician would be stupid to act like that so I don't think it's true at all," he said.
Mahathir also dismissed the notion that his position was due to trade interest with Russia.
"It is two different (issues), that's it. As far as we are concerned, we want proof of guilt [...] so far there is no proof, only hearsay," he said.
Mahathir added that as a small country, Malaysia was not in a position to dictate terms to the major powers such as the US and Russia.
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