“It has been seven days since the incident, but there is no clear evidence on the cause of death and at the moment we cannot trust the investigation by the Malaysian police even though it has yet to conclude,” the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol, said in a strongly-worded statement today.
This comes hours after Kang was summoned over comments accusing Malaysian authorities of colluding with “hostile forces” in its investigation into Kim Jong Nam’s death, believed to be after he was poisoned at budget terminal klia2 in Sepang last week.
The usually media-shy Kang also questioned the police request for DNA to identify Jong Nam’s body.
“The deceased is not an ordinary citizen, but a diplomatic passport holder who is under diplomatic privileges, which means the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations should be abided by.”
Jong Nam was carrying a North Korean passport under the name Kim Chol, when he was believed to have been attacked by two female assassins, who were shown in a grainy CCTV recording as being involved in an altercation with Jong Nam, before walking away.
Kang said Malaysian police had yet to establish the cause of Jong Nam’s death or offer criminal evidence against the suspects, adding that the request for a DNA sample from family members was an attempt to delay the release of the body.
He called the request for a DNA sample “preposterous”, adding that as long as the victim’s citizenship was clear and his identity was confirmed by the embassy, such requirements “could only be regarded as a political plot behind the incident”.
The ambassador said DNA tests were the norm only if the victim’s body had “rotted, burnt or turned into a skeleton”.
He said if Jong Nam was indeed murdered as alleged, Malaysia must take full responsibility.
He also took to task Malaysian police for arresting a North Korean citizen in Kuala Lumpur “without warrant or evidence” and announcing it before any form of inquiry.
“This is a grave abuse of human rights. They even pointed guns at his family members to threaten their lives and beat his teenage son in the face. This is a human rights abuse that can be seen only in US gang films.”
‘False claim by Zahid’
Kang also took a swipe at Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, saying he had falsely made a claim on Jong Nam’s identity.
He said a day before Zahid announced the body belonged to Jong Nam, the embassy had submitted an official document to show his passport name was only stated as Kim Chol.
“How could the deputy prime minister make a false remark one day before our submission? This clearly suggests that Malaysia has close ties with the South Korean plotter in this incident.”
He added that the request for a second post-mortem, which he called an “attempt to mangle again his body”, was a violation of human rights and showed “how desperate they are to shift the blame to us”.
On the arrest of two female suspects who had allegedly attacked Jong Nam, the ambassador said a meeting with the duo could “reveal the truth”, and asked whether Malaysian police had made up claims to hide the true cause of death.
“Some people say that the suspects were instructed by someone else. We would like to hear from them directly to ensure by whom they were instructed.”
He further said South Korea stood to benefit from the incident, saying Pyongyang’s neighbour was “facing political chaos on unprecedented levels”.
Kang called for a joint investigation, and said his country would dispatch a delegation of lawyers to work together with Malaysian police.