The opposition politicians spoke after Dutch-led international investigators concluded that the airplane was brought down by a Russian missile.
“It’s quite obvious that in a normal civilized process, those responsible for the deaths of 298 people must stand trial. But we also understand that there will be no extradition,” Kremlin critic and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov told reporters after the Vilnius Russia Forum in Paunguriai, a village in the district of Trakai, close to Vilnius.
“What the Russian government does, at least, is cover up the killers,” he added.
Russia continues to deny any involvement in the crash after the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team announced their latest findings on Thursday.
Kasparov thinks that the Netherlands is unlikely to demand the extradition of Russian officials allegedly responsible for the downing of the aircraft.
“I’m not overly optimistic that the Dutch government will take the next step and ask for extradition,” he said.
Russian opposition politician and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza said that Russia’s posture in the ongoing process shows how “Putin‘s regime is trying to ignore and sabotage any procedures related to international responsibility and international law.”