‘Soiled underwear consistent with poisoning’
SHAH ALAM: A prosecution witness told the High Court yesterday that North Korean Kim Chol’s underwear was soiled w ith faeces due to poisoning.
Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) forensic consultant pathologist Dr Nurliza Abdullah, 52, said based on the post-mortem results, the deceased had “suffered from involuntary defecation”.
Dr Nurliza, who conducted a post-mortem on Feb 15, said the condition could have been caused by either pesticides or a nerve agent.
“In general, involuntary defecation can be triggered when someone makes contact with pesticides or nerve agents, in this case, the VX nerve agent.
“Poisoning that involves nerve agents will cause muscle paralysis, which could lead to faeces coming out uncontrollably,” she said in her reply to a question by deputy public prosecutor Wan Shahruddin Wan Ladin.
Dr Nurliza, who is the 19th prosecution witness, confirmed that the cause of Kim Chol’s death was acute nerve agent poisoning.
“His pupils were fixed but constricted, which most of the time is due to poisoning,” she said.
She was testifying in the trial of Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, who were charged with murdering Kim Chol, along with four others still at large, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) on Feb 13.
When cross-examined by Siti Aisyah’s counsel, Salim Bashir, Dr Nurliza agreed that a postmortem alone was not enough to confirm that VX nerve agent was the cause of death.
Salim: Did you find any indication of VX contamination on (Kim Chol’s) organs?
Dr Nurliza: On the surface, the organs looked normal. If we want to find any contamination (to the organs), it must be done via tests on organ tissue.
Salim: Have you conducted analysis on the tissue?
Dr Nurliza: Yes. It was done at the Chemistry Department.
The 18th witness, Sergeant Shamsul Bahrin Abdullah, who was stationed at the klia2 police station, said he contacted the North Korean embassy to inform about the death of Kim Chol at 4.50pm on Feb 13.
He said a man, identified as North Korean counsellor Kim Yusong, had answered his call and spoken fluently in Bahasa Melayu.
“I told him (Yu-song) that a North Korean citizen named Kim Chol had died and asked them to send a representative to Putrajaya Hospital for identification.
“He did not respond to my inquiries, and said ‘terima kasih’ (thank you).
“After that, I went inside the klia2 police station meeting room and saw several Special Branch police officers in the room.
“One of them told me that the deceased was an estranged halfbrother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. I was shocked.”
Shamsul Bahrin said he received a phone call from Yu-song, who asked for the location of the body and date of the postmortem.
Trial continues tomorrow before judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin.
On March 1, Siti Aisyah and Doan were charged at the Sepang magistrate’s court with murdering Kim Chol, 45, with four others still at large.
Kim Chol was later established to be Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Jong-un.
The duo allegedly committed the offence at the klia2 departure hall, about 9am on Feb 13.
The charge, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carries the mandatory death penalty.