The first hearing in the trial of four fugitive suspects in the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was set to start in Amsterdam on Monday, more than five years after the plane was downed in Ukraine. Prosecutors say the suspects, three Russians and a Ukrainian, helped arrange the Russian missile system used to shoot down MH17, a civilian aircraft. The suspects are believed to be in Russia and are not expected to attend. MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was shot down by a missile fired from territory held by pro-Moscow rebels amid fighting in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 aboard. Russia has denied any involvement. The judges’ first order of business will be to verify whether the suspects have appointed lawyers to defend them, and to lay out a timetable for the case to proceed. A Dutch-led international Joint Investigation (JIT) team spent years collecting evidence before issuing arrest warrants last year for the four suspects: Russians Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Igor Girkin, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty. <br/>
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Rows of white chairs were placed in front of Russia’s embassy in The Hague on Sunday in a quiet protest by families of those who were shot down with Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, on the eve of the trial - in absentia - of four men accused of murder for their involvement. “This is for me a very beautiful symbol for 298 people who perished. They are gone. My brother never returned,” said Piet Ploeg, whose older brother Alex died in the crash. “The idea of the action is to make perfectly clear to the Russian state that they have to cooperate with the investigation”. Those present observed two minutes of silence. White roses were placed on some of the chairs, and placards stood in the field. One read “The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”, and was accompanied by a single white rose. “For us it’s very important that the trial starts, that all the evidence will be presented, and that, in the end, an independent court will reach its verdict. That the world will know what happened, why it happened, and who was responsible. What was the role of Russia,” said Ploeg. The empty chairs, one for each victim, also symbolized the four suspects’ absence from the court. <br/>
Alitalia said Sunday it was suspending national and international flights to and from Milan’s Malpensa airport from March 9 after the government ordered a lockdown of large areas of northern Italy to stem coronavirus contagion. The carrier said it would operate only national flights from the smaller Milan Linate airport, and reduce the number of flights between Venice and Rome. International routes will be served from Rome’s Fiumicino airport. The new regime will continue until at least April 3, the airline said.<br/>