Evidence gathered clearly shows that two foreign women had wiped highly toxic liquid, the nerve agent VX, on the face of Kim Chol or Kim Jong-nam, the estranged elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, killing him, the High Court here heard today.
Selangor Prosecution director, Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad said the prosecution would provide evidence that the deceased (Kim Jong-nam) was at the Departure Hall of klia2, where the first accused, Indonesian national Siti Aisyah, 25, and the second accused, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, had approached the deceased and wiped the lethal liquid on his face and eyes.
"Expert testimony will be presented to prove that the effects of the toxic nerve agent VX had caused his death and the chances for him to be saved was slim," he said in the prosecution's opening statement on the first day of the trial of Siti Aisyah and Doan for the alleged murder.
Both women were charged with four others still at large with killing Kim Chol, 45, at the Departure Hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) at 9 am on Feb 13, 2017.
Muhamad Iskandar said the actions of the two accused showed intent to cause the death of the North Korean man as his condition was normal before his face and eyes were wiped with the toxic liquid.
He said the evidence also showed that after the two women had done that, the victim went straight to an officer on duty at the Customer Service Counter to complain about the incident and the officer then brought the victim to a policeman before taking him to a clinic at the klia2 terminal.
"However, the victim died on the way to Putrajaya Hospital to seek further treatment. The victim's body was then taken to the Forensics Department of Kuala Lumpur Hospital for a post-mortem and the cause of death was stated by the pathologist as 'acute VX (nerve agent) poisoning'."
He said the prosecution would also present testimony on the role of four others still at large, where the actions of the two accused with 'prank training' provided by the four others showed the intent of all the six individuals involved to cause the death of the victim.
Muhamad Iskandar said in proving that the two accused were the ones who committed the murder, the prosecution would present direct, circumstantial, expert , scientific and documentary evidence.
Besides that, there would be other evidence to be presented like the case items found and seized to prove that the two accused and four others still at large had killed the victim, he said.
Earlier, the two accused had pleaded not guilty to the murder charge read to them before judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin.
Both shook their heads after the charge was read to them in Bahasa Indonesia and the Vietnamese language respectively. They were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death sentence, upon conviction,
Siti Aisyah was represented by lawyer Gooi Soon Seng and Doan by lawyers Hisyam Teh Poh Teik and Datuk Naran Singh.
Kim Jong-nam was reportedly at klia2 on Feb 13 to take a flight to Macau when two women came close and suddenly wiped his face with a toxic liquid, which was later confirmed to be the nerve agent VX.
Jong-nam who was taking the flight using a passport under the name of Kim Chol, died while being taken to Putrajaya Hospital. He had arrived in Malaysia on Feb 6.
-- BERNAMA
Bernama
Mon Oct 02 2017
Police cars transporting Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong arrive at the Shah Alam High Court, October 2, 2017. Astro AWANI / SHAHIR OMAR
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