MH17 Malaysia will not be able to carry out the trial on the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 as it will be a “fake” trial, says Tourism Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Nazri said it is unlikely for a trial to be conducted in Malaysia as it is not possible for the perpetrators who allegedly shot down the plane on July 17 to attend court in the country.

“We can’t bring the rebels (who shot down MH17) here (to Malaysia) to be tried, and if they are not here to be tried, then it will just be a fake trial,” the former law minister told Malaysiakini .

Nazri is also chairperson of the Malaysian chapter of the New York-based Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), which lobbies for countries to ratify the Rome Statute to allow them to be state parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

He said this when asked to comment on the status of Malaysia’s decision on the ICC in view of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri's statement that Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail would study the best option, whether to have the trials in Malaysia or otherwise.

Nancy said Gani was now representing Malaysia on the committee investigating the tragedy, which killed 283 passengers, including many children, from 10 countries and 15 Malaysian crew.

Nancy was quoted by Bernama as saying, “Although Malaysia is not an ICC member, action (against those responsible) can still be taken by Malaysia.

“We have certain provisions for this, among them the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma)."

'Rome Statute not too late'

However, Nazri disagreed, saying it would still be better for Malaysia to obtain international support from its allies to raise the issue at the ICC, which has its headquarters in the Netherlands.

He preferred this approach as Malaysia could then use the facilities in the world court, including their judges and public prosecutors, to conduct the case.

He said it is “never too late” for Malaysia to ratify the Rome Statute and become state party to the ICC.

“We can still do it next month or next year,” he quipped, adding that in 2010 the cabinet under Prime Minister Najib Razak had already agreed to ratify the statute.

Nazri ( above ) called that as a result of the cabinet decision, along with several MPs, he met with ICC personnel in the Netherlands in 2011 to start the ratification process.

“We used to think that it was not very important to become a member of the ICC as our country is not at war with anyone,” Nazri said.

“But look what has happened now? Our plane was shot down by rebels at the Ukraine-Russian border.

"We had 44 Malaysians on that flight, and most importantly, it is our airplane!” he exclaimed.

According to PGA Malaysia secretary and Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran, Gani is the key " stumbling block " to the ratification process as he failed to comply with the cabinet’s decision on the matter.

"Continuous holding back (of the decision) is a shameful affront to justice." Kulasegaran said, recalling that the PGA had organised a regional (Asia-Pacific) ICC Parliamentary Conference in Kuala Lumpur in March 2011, and in April, the cabinet agreed in principle to the ratification. 

'Up to AG to complete process'

Like Kulasegaran, Nazri said the ball was now in the Gani's ( below ) court and it was up to him to complete the ratification process.

“But I hope to raise the issue in the cabinet when the time comes,” he added.

In the days following the disaster, several quarters including international NGOs like the Bangkok-based Coalition for the International Criminal Court, New-York based PGA, Malaysia Bar Council human rights committee co-chairperson Andrew Khoo and Bayan Baru parliamentarian Sim Tze Tzin have urged Malaysia to ratify the Rome Statute. 

Their concerns were later echoed by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, who described the "horrendous shooting down" of the Malaysian plane as possibly amounting to a war crime.

Navi was quoted by the international media as saying that the fighting in east Ukraine - where the airplane was shot down - has in general claimed more than 1,100 lives, with both government and rebel forces using heavy weaponry in urban areas.