A Dutch lawyer for a Russian suspect on trial in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines flight in 2014 says prosecutors failed to prove a Russian-made missile brought down the jetliner.
The lawyer told judges on June 9 that there were "holes" in the prosecutors' case because they were too focused on proving Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine used a Russian-supplied Buk missile.
"To conclude, the prosecution failed to prove from tapped conversations, images, and witness statements that this was the missile that downed MH17," said Sabine ten Doesschate, who represents suspect Oleg Pulatov.
She also said it could not be proved that a smoke trail -- which prosecutors said was seen shortly after the missile was fired -- was in fact that belonging to a Buk missile.
Ten Doesschate made her closing arguments in a courthouse close to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam from which flight MH17 took off.
Pulatov is the only defendant represented by a lawyer at the trial. The other three suspects are Russians Sergei Dubinsky and Igor Girkin and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.
Prosecutors have requested life sentences for the three Russians and one Ukrainian on trial in absentia on charges of playing a role in downing the jet, killing 298 people. The flight was en route to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down.
The defense will discuss "alternative scenarios" for the downing of MH17 on June 10, the final day of closing arguments. The court has said a verdict is expected in November at the earliest.
The trial has taken on a new significance as the war in Ukraine rages on and as the International Criminal Court and other investigators look into a slew of alleged war crimes.