Four suspects to face murder charges for downing of MH17 - relatives

FILE PHOTO: Armed pro-Russian separatist stands on part of the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane after it crashed near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region

NIEUWEGEIN (Reuters) - Four suspects will face murder charges for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 in July 2014 in a trial set to start next March in the Netherlands, families of the victims said on Wednesday.

The names of four suspects were presented by investigators to relatives earlier on Wednesday, nearly five years after the passenger plane was shot down with a missile over territory held by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine.

Silene Fredriksz, whose son Bryce was in the plane with his girlfriend, Daisy, said the trial would begin on March 9, 2020.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Toby Sterling; Writing by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Toby Chopra)