N. Korea diplomat a suspect in Kim’s killing
Kuala Lumpur, Feb. 22: Detectives probing the assassination of Kim Jongun’s half-brother want to question a North Korean diplomat, Malaysia’s top policeman said Wednesday.
Investigators have put five North Koreans in the frame for last week’s brazen killing of Kim Jongnam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and have said they are seeking three more for questioning.
They include the embassy’s second secretary, Hyon Kwang Song, as well as a North Korean airline employee called Kim Uk Il.
“We have written to the ambassador to allow us to interview both of them. We hope that the Korean embassy will cooperate with us and allow us to interview them quickly. If
Investigators have put five North Koreans in the frame for last week’s brazen killing
They include the embassy’s second secretary, Hyon Kwang Song, and a N. Korean airline employee
not, we will compel them to come to us,” Khalid Abu Bakar said. Jong-nam died on February 13 after being attacked as he waited for a plane to Macau. Airport’s CCTV footage shows the chubby 45-year-old being approached by two women, one of whom grabs him from behind and appears to shove a cloth in his face.
Moments later Jong-nam is seen seeking help from airport staff, who direct him to a clinic, where he apparently slumped in a chair. Malaysian police say he suffered a seizure and died before he reached hospital, seemingly from the effects of a toxin.
Seoul has said from the start that Pyongyang was behind the murder, citing a “standing order” from Jong-un to kill his elder sibling, and a failed assassination bid in 2012.
Asked whether the five North Korean suspects had masterminded the attack, Khalid said he believed they were “heavily involved” in the murder.
The police chief dismissed claims the two women had believed the attack was a prank. “Of course they knew” it was a poison attack, Khalid said. “You have seen the video, right? The lady was moving away towards the bathroom. She was very aware that it was toxic and that she needed to wash her hands.” More on Page 9
Afghanistan is set to lay out stringent penalties for “bacha bazi”, sexual slavery and abuse of boys, for the first time, officials say, in a landmark move against the deeply entrenched practice.
Last year, it was reported that the Taliban were exploiting rampant bacha bazi in police ranks to mount deadly insider attacks, exposing a hidden epidemic of kidnapping of young boys for institutionalised sexual slavery.
The revelations intensified longstanding demands by campaigners for Kabul to enact an incisive legal provision to curb bacha bazi, literally “boy play”, which has seen a striking resurgence in post-Taliban Afghanistan.
A raft of punishments will now be listed in Afghanistan’s revised penal code, from up to seven years in jail for sexual assault to capital punishment for “aggravated cases” such as violating more than one boy.
“There is an entire chapter on criminalising the practice (bacha bazi) in the new penal code,” Nader Nadery, a senior advisor to President Ashraf Ghani, said. “The code is expected to be adopted any time this month. This is going to be a significant step towards stopping this ugly practice.”
A draft of the chapter, titled “Driving children towards moral corruption”, also states that bacha bazi victims cannot be prosecuted, a significant caveat in a nation where sex assault victims often face punishment.
Afghanistan’s criminal law previously only prohibited pederasty and sex outside of marriage, which rights campaigners said did not sufficiently address the problem of bacha bazi.
“This chapter clearly defines bacha bazi as a crime, leaving no room for ambiguity,” Mr Ghani’s legal advisor Nasrullah Stanekzai said.
Aside from police commanders, warlords, politicians and other members of the Afghan elite often keep “bachas” as a symbol of authority and affluence.
The young boys, sometimes dressed effeminately with makeup and bells on their feet, can be used as dancers at private parties and are often sexually exploited.
Investigation has found that the Taliban were using the boys, keen on revenge and easy prey for recruitment, to infiltrate security ranks and mount crippling insider attacks on police in southern Afghanistan. The insurgents deny the claim.