Satellite captured image of missile that downed Flight MH17

Satellite images captured the firing of the Buk missile that downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014.

Lawyer Maarten Pijnenburg, a member of the MH17 Legal Aid Team, arrives at the highly secured Schiphol Judicial Complex on Monday. Picture: AFP

Satellite images captured the firing of the Buk missile that downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014, killing all 298 ­people on board, and they are in the possession of American agencies, a court in The Netherlands has heard.

The chief judge of the MH17 trial, Hendrik Steenhuis, said during the brief resumption of the trial on Monday night (AEDT) that “the US has access to satellite images showing the Buk missile being fired and it was shared with Dutch intelligence’’.

The judge said a roundtable parliamentary committee in January 2016 stated that the US had no objections to declassifying this material.

“Is this correct?’’ asked Judge Steenhuis, and added, “Is the public prosecutor going to add to this to the record?’’

The MH17 trial reconvened for one day at Schiphol so that the timetable for the hearing of witnesses in June would not be impacted.

Special precautions were taken because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the press, public and relatives were all excluded, although they were allowed to watch via video link.

Only one prosecutor was present and one member of defence counsel as well as three judges and a clerk. The reserve judges were not present.

Judge Steenhuis said: “If today’s hearing had not taken place, there were consequences for continuing the case in June … the case would need to be restarted and the court wishes to avoid that.’’

Former lieutenant colonel in the Russian armed forces Oleg Pulatov, 53, is defending charges of mass murder in the case, while three others, ex-Russian military intelligence officials turned separatist leaders Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinsky, and Ukraine separatist battalion leader Leonid Kharchenko, are being heard in absentia. If convicted, the men could be sentenced to life imprisonment, but both Russia and Ukraine do not allow extradition of their citizens.

The court has also ruled that counsel for the relatives would be able to access the court file, but there would be particular restrictions on the identity or any information regarding one of the secret witnesses, M58.

M58 was a guard at the Buk missile site and his testimony includes details about Russians being present.

The case has been adjourned until June 8.