Jong-nam’s murder probe ‘shoddy’

SHAH ALAM: The High Court here yesterday heard that the prosecution had failed to prove the two accused had the common intention to murder the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader, Kim Chol or Kim Jongnam.

Lawyer Gooi Soon Seng who is representing Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 26, said that his client was never jointly charged with the second accused Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 29, as the prosecution failed to prove they had the common intention to murder Kim Chol.

“The first accused was never jointly charged with the second accused. But she was charged with four others who were never named and still at large,” said Gooi in his submission at the end of the prosecution case.

Describing the investigation done by investigating officer, ASP Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz as shoddy, Gooi said the prosecution relied on two points which were the closed circuit television camera (CCTV) footages and the existence of degradation product of VX on a sleeveless shirt worn by Siti Aisyah.

“The case by the prosecution is based on circumstantial evidence with no direct evidence, mostly based on KL International Airport 2 (klia2) CCTV,” he said adding that in the CCTV footage the alleged “attack” is not clear and all that is seen is a figure rubbing something into a man’s face.

“It is pure conjecture when the prosecution said the accused went to the toilet and washed her hands. There is no footage showing her going to the toilet. There were no traces of the chemical found in the toilet nor on the trail that she took,” he said.

He also emphasised that the sleeveless t-shirt that was claimed to be worn by Siti Aisyah did not have any trace of her DNA and no traces of the chemical was found under her fingernails.

“The prosecution must prove she was wearing the t-shirt on the day of the incident. But there were no traces of her DNA found compared to the shirt worn by the second accused. If traces of the chemical were found on the shirt, you should find traces of DNA. Was this shirt really worn by the accused?” Gooi raised in court. - Bernama