‘VX NERVE AGENT USED TO KILL VICTIM’
Prosecution says it will prove duo intentionally murdered victim
THE trial of the two women acccused of killing North Korean Kim Jong-nam began yesterday with prosecutors laying out evidence to show that the duo had wiped VX nerve agent on the victim’s face which caused his death.
In his opening statement, Selangor prosecution director Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad submitted to the court that evidence showed that accused Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, used the highly toxic chemical, classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations, to kill Jong-nam.
Iskandar said the prosecution would prove that both accused, along with four others still at large had a common intention to murder the victim.
The prosecution would prove Siti Aisyah and Thi Huong had rehearsed a “prank” that was supervised by the four men.
Iskandar said his team would provide evidence that the duo approached the victim at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) and wiped the poison on his eyes and face.
He said evidence showed that after the chemical was wiped onto the victim’s face, the victim rushed to the officer on duty at the customer service counter to lodge a complaint before he was brought to a clinic at the airport.
He said the victim, however, died on the way to Putrajaya Hospital.
Iskandar said a pathologist from Hospital Kuala Lumpur’s Forensics Department where the post-mortem was carried out, had stated that the cause of the victim’s death was “acute VX (nerve agent) poisoning.”
“The prosecution will rely on direct, circumstantial and scientific evidence, documented evidence, evidence provided by specialists and several other related evidence that will be produced before the court to link the accused and the four others with the death of Jong-nam.”
Earlier, High Court judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin recorded the duo’s plea of not guilty.
The judge rejected an application by counsel of both the accused to reveal the names of the four other suspects who were still at large and believed to be in North Korea.
Proceedings are still ongoing with the first prosecution witness taking the stand.
On March 1, Siti Aisyah and Thi Huong were charged at the Sepang magistrate’s court with four others still at large, with murdering Kim Chol, 45.
Kim Chol was later established to be Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The duo had allegedly committed the offence at klia2’s departure hall at 9am on Feb 13.
Their charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.