Malaysian ambassador defends Jong Nam murder probe
Mohamad Nizan Mohamad says Malaysia will be objective and fair to everybody.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s ambassador to Pyongyang Mohamad Nizan Mohamad has defended the investigations into the death of Kim Jong Nam.
Speaking in Beijing today, en route to Malaysia, Nizan said the probe was being conducted in an impartial manner, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Nizan added that Malaysia had no cause to take sides over the incident and would “be very objective and fair to everybody”, AP said.
Nizan was called back “for consultations” on Feb 20, hours before a diplomatic row erupted over the North Korean ambassador’s hard-hitting comments on Malaysia’s ongoing investigation into the murder of Jong Nam.
Kang Chol, who had been summoned to Wisma Putra to explain his claim that Malaysia “had something to conceal” in Jong Nam’s death, said North Korea could not trust the Malaysian investigation as it was “politically motivated”.
Kang said if Jong Nam was indeed murdered as alleged, Malaysia must take full responsibility. He also hit out at Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, saying he had falsely made a claim on Jong Nam’s identity, and accused Malaysia of colluding with foreign governments.
He added that Malaysia’s request for a second post-mortem, which he called an “attempt to mangle again his (Jong Nam’s) body”, was a violation of human rights and showed “how desperate they are to shift the blame to us”.
The row with North Korea began when Malaysia performed an autopsy on the murder victim despite objections from Pyongyang and refused to release the body until a family member came forward to provide a DNA sample.
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Jong Nam, who was the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un, was murdered, apparently by two women, while waiting to catch a return flight to Macau at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb 13.