Prosecution closes case in Kim Jong-Nam murder trial

SHAH ALAM: The prosecution in the high-profile Kim Chol or Kim Jong-nam’s murder trial closed its case yesterday after calling 34 witnesses to testify during the 39 days of trial, which began on Oct 2, 2017.

Deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad, who appeared for the prosecution alongside deputy public prosecutors Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, Syed Farid Syed Ali and Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharudin, told the High Court here that they were resting their case against the two accused, Indonesia’s Siti Aisyah, 26, and Vietnam’s Doan Thi Huong, 29, after questioning the 34 witnesses over the past six months. He said they would offer 93 witnesses to the defence. “Among the witnesses are two roommates of Siti Aisyah, workers at the Sky Star Hotel, Grandmillenium Hotel, a taxi driver, and Kim Chol’s personal driver when he was in Malaysia,” he said.

A total of 236 exhibits were submitted by the prosecution during the trial, including the clothes of Siti Aisyah and Doan, the footage from klia2’s closed circuit television cameras, blood specimens and nail samples.

Judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin set June 11 for both the prosecution and defence to submit their written submissions, and June 27 to 29 for oral arguments, before making his decision on whether or not to order the accused to enter defence.

Siti Aisyah and Doan, together with four others still at large, were charged with murdering Kim Chol or Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, using the deadly nerve agent VX at the departure hall of the KL International Airport 2 (klia2) at 9am on Feb 13, 2017.

The charge, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carries mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

Siti Aisyah was represented by lawyers Gooi Soon Seng, S Selvi and Azura Alias, while Doan was represented by lawyers Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Datuk Naran Singh and Salim Bashir.

Earlier, the 9th witness, Sepang KLIA Police Headquarters senior investigating officer ASP Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz during cross examination by Hisyam said he was not sure the purpose of Doan’s visit to South Korea was to meet her boyfriend. — Bernama