Kim Jong Nam suspect 'practised attack' at airport, trial hears
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother had about 1.4 times the lethal dosage of VX nerve agent on his face, a court hears.
Tuesday 10 October 2017 15:07, UK
An airport security video shows one of the women accused of killing Kim Jong Nam apparently practising on another person before the actual attack, a court has heard.
Siti Aisyah, of Indonedia, and Doan Thi Huong, of Vietnam, are on trial in Malaysia for the killing of Mr Kim, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
They are accused of smearing VX nerve agent on Mr Kim at Kuala Lumpur airport in February.
Police officer Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz told the court that a security video two days before the attack shows Doan softly wiping something on the face of a person from behind in the same area of the airport as the attack.
He said when the person turned around, Doan clasped her hands together and bowed slightly as if she was apologising before retreating slowly.
However, he said another security video taken at the time of the murder showed Doan being very rough in her actions "as if she was attacking" Mr Kim.
A video of the attack will be shown to the court on Wednesday.
"To me, her action was quite aggressive," the police officer said, adding that Doan seemed to retreat in haste, walking very quickly.
Both defendants have to murdering Mr Kim, saying they thought they were involved in a reality TV show prank.
They face the death penalty if convicted.
A Malaysian government chemist also testified on Tuesday, saying Mr Kim had about 1.4 times the lethal dosage of VX nerve agent on his face after he was attacked.
Raja Subramaniam, who heads the Centre of Chemical Weapons Analysis laboratory, told the court pure VX was found on Mr Kim's face, in his eye and in his blood plasma.
But he said he couldn't directly say if the VX concentration was enough to kill Kim.
VX and related products were also detected on the clothes both women wore on the day of the attack.
The trial on Monday had for the judge, attorneys and the defendants to examine the clothing before they were officially accepted as evidence.
Prosecutors have said they will present airport security videos this week that allegedly show the two women carrying out the attack and indicate they knew they were handling poison.
"We have an uphill battle in this case. We are the underdogs. They have the upper hand but we have our own strategy," prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin told reporters.
VX is banned by an international treaty as a weapon of mass destruction but is believed to be part of North Korea's chemical weapons arsenal.
An airport security video reviewed by The Associated Press on Monday shows what may be Mr Kim's final recorded moments of life after he collapsed at the airport.
The video apparently shows Mr Kim seemingly unconscious on a stretcher being given oxygen by medical attendants waiting for an elevator to take him to an ambulance.
Mr Kim, the eldest son in the current generation of North Korea's dynastic rulers, was believed to be a family outcast who may have been perceived as a threat by the North Korean leader.