James and Vanessa Rizk’s parents Albert and Marie were among the almost 300 people killed – including 38 Australians – when the ill-fated flight was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Speaking on Today from Amsterdam James Rizk said the verdict was “a good outcome”.
“It has been a big day. A lot of emotions have obviously resurfaced and stuff like that,” he said.
“I do believe it has been a good outcome for what has been a very long trial.”
Although feeling overall positive about the verdict, Vanessa said her emotions had been “up and down”.
“It is obviously a very complex situation,” she said.
“It is not a normal murder trial, we are talking about a mass murder trial within a political crisis.
“It is also very foreign that we were in the court today where the perpetrators weren’t present. However, it was definitely reassuring when the judge did give us a guilty verdict for three of the four perpetrators.
“That is definitely a step in the right direction.
“The emotions were pretty up and down, very rollercoaster, very intense, rehashing, I guess, what the last day entailed.”
Read Related Also: Police offer $1 million reward for 1992 murder of Melbourne woman
Against the geopolitical upheaval caused by Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine, the court also held that Moscow had overall control of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, from where it said the attack was launched.
Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said evidence presented by prosecutors at a trial that lasted more than two years proved that the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was brought down by a Buk missile fired by pro-Moscow Ukrainian fighters on July 17, 2014.
The crash scattered wreckage and bodies over farmland and fields of sunflowers.
“The evidence is extremely clear, that these guys who were the suspects…three were found guilty,” James.
“It is completely obvious – the evidence is extremely clear.
Forbes locals evacuate by boat as Eugowra clean-up begins
“Like Vanessa said, it is a step in the right direction for the families and also for justice of what happened to the 298 people on that plane.”
The siblings both agreed that their parents’ memory keeps them strong and enables them to continue the fight for justice after all these years.
“Each day we live our lives in a positive way, because if we didn’t, it would be a disservice to our mum and dad,” James said.
