Jong-nam murder: Accused to know on Aug 16 if their defence will be called

SHAH ALAM: The two accused charged with the alleged murder of Kim Chol or Kim Jong-nam will know on Aug 16 whether they will be called to enter their defence.

On Thursday, High Court judge Justice Azmi Ariffin set the date after the two-day hearing of submissions by the parties at the end of the prosecution's case.

Justice Azmi also vacated the hearing date for submission on Friday (June 29).

Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 26, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 29, were charged with murdering Kim Chol, 45, by smearing his face with a poison-laced cloth.

The offence was said to have committed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) at 9pm on Feb 13, 2017.

Four other North Korean men were jointly charged with them, though they have left Malaysia.

Kim Chol is the alias used by Kim Jong-nam, who is the estranged brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

All the accused were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries a mandatory death sentence if found guilty of murder.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, in his submission claimed the two accused were trained killers as they had identified their target and carefully planned their mission.

"This is not a normal murder case. The accused are trained persons. They must know what to do.

"The mission had been accomplished and there was no room for failure. You cannot just pick two scapegoats from nowhere to execute the assassination. It is like we are watching a 'James Bond' movie," he said.

He said if it was a prank as claimed by the accused, there was no need to use criminal force to smear dangerous substance on the victim's face.

He said the only probable answer was that both wanted to ensure the substance hit the right target, and that was the victim's eyes and face.

DPP Wan Shahruddin said from the second prosecution's witness, who was a KLIA2 security guard, the testimony showed that the deceased was attacked by the two.

"Kim Chol also told the security guard that the accused had attacked directly to his eyes and face. It was not just a mere rubbing to the face like applying a lotion on a face.

"It was a deliberate act. They attacked him with a deadly substance where the probability of death was high and chances of survival were very low.

"The substance was found inside the victim's eyes and one would ask why of all the places on a human body, both targeted his eyes.

"The answer is they knew the direct and deadly effect if the substance entered the eyes," he claimed.

He also said they had in their possession a taxi ticket to have an easy getaway.