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MALAYSIA-NKOREA-CRIME-TRIAL
Kim Jong Nam probe slammed as ‘shoddy’ as trial resumes
SHAH ALAM, Malaysia, June 27, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The investigation into the
assassination of the North Korean leader’s half-brother was “shoddy” and
“lopsided”, a Malaysian court heard Wednesday as the trial resumed of two
women accused of the murder.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong allegedly killed Kim
Jong Nam by smearing a toxic nerve agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur
International Airport last year in a Cold War-style hit that shocked the
world.
Defence lawyers have argued that the women were recruited to take part in
what they thought were prank TV shows but were instead tricked into becoming
inadvertent assassins, in an elaborate plot by a group of North Korean
agents.
The women, in their 20s, have denied murdering Kim Jong Un’s estranged
half-brother as he waited for a flight to Macau. They face death by hanging
if found guilty.
The trial, which began last year, resumed Wednesday after a break since
early April, with the women escorted into court handcuffed and wearing
bullet-proof vests.
Aisyah’s lawyer Gooi Soon Seng made his final submission, telling the Shah
Alam High Court, outside Kuala Lumpur, that “the investigation was not only
shoddy but was lopsided”.
The charge was “vague” and the prosecution “has failed to make out a prima
facie case against the accused (Aisyah)”, he said.
Gooi argued prosecutors had not proven his client applied the VX nerve
agent on Kim’s face and questioned why — if she really were the assassin —
she had told friends and family so readily about the supposed TV pranks that
she was involved in.
He also said it was unusual that Aisyah did not suffer any symptoms due to
contact with VX, which the United Nations classifies as a weapon of mass
destruction.
Four North Koreans are accused of involvement in the murder but fled the
country immediately after the killing. Aisyah and Huong’s lawyers allege they
paid the women to carry out what they believed were pranks for a reality TV
show.
South Korea accused the North of masterminding the killing of Kim Jong
Nam, who had been living in exile after falling out of favour with the ruling
family in Pyongyang.
The assassination also sparked a row between North Korea and Malaysia,
which had historically been one of Pyongyang’s few allies. However ties
appear to be improving, with the new Malaysian government announcing plans to
reopen its embassy in Pyongyang.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1155 hrs