Siti Aisyah paid to take part in ‘pranks’, court told

SHAH ALAM: Indonesian Siti Aisyah, who is standing trial for the murder of North Korean Kim Chol, was paid to participate in “pranks” one month before the alleged murder on Feb 13 last year, the court heard.

The pranks were said to take place around Kuala Lumpur at KL Sentral, KL International Airport (KLIA), Double Tree Hotel, Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Suria KLCC.

This was suggested by Siti Aisyah’s lawyer Gooi Soon Seng and agreed by investigating officer Asst Supt Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz.

“I agree (to the suggestions) as it was based on her (Siti Aisyah) statement,” the witness said here yesterday.

Gooi also suggested that Siti Aisyah was paid RM600 and another RM50 for taxi fare each time she participated in the pranks, but the witness said she was paid that amount for the pranks in KLIA and Mandarin Oriental only.

The court also heard how Siti Aisyah was in communication with James, or Ri Ji Yu, the person who allegedly hired her for the pranks, through text messages and phone calls.

The court was earlier told that Siti Aisyah had met James at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur on Jan 5 last year.

Gooi then contended that Siti Aisyah had sent an SMS after one of the pranks to James saying “I see today, I acting no good, right? ” to which James replied “Not natural” and prompting Siti Aisyah to reply “Sorry long time not acting now”.

ASP Wan Azirul agreed to the contention. Gooi further suggested that James had arranged for Siti Aisyah to carry out a prank in Cambodia and he paid her RM1,500 for the flight ticket and taxi fare, to which ASP Wan Azirul agreed.

Siti Aisyah, 26, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 29, are jointly charged with the four still at large, of killing Kim Chol, 45, at the KLIA2 departure hall at 9am on Feb 13.

Kim Chol is the alias used by Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, when he travelled.

The hearing continues before Justice Azmi Ariffin on Feb 22.