The true identity of four male suspects in the murder case of North Korean leader Kim Chol or Kim Jong-nam was revealed at the High Court in Shah Alam today.
Sepang/KLIA district police senior investigation officer, ASP Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz said the four Koreans were Hong Song Hac, 34, Ri Ji Hyon, 33, Ri Jae Nam, 57 and O Jong Gil, 55.
At the previous proceedings, Wan Azirul Nizam testified that the accused, Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong told him that the four men were only known as "Mr Chang", "Mr Y", "Hanamori" and "James".
“Hong Song Hac, known as Mr Chang, entered Malaysia on Jan 31, 2017, Ri Ji Hyon, known as ‘Mr Y’ entered the country on Feb 4, Ri Jae Nam (Hanamori) arrived on Feb 1 and O Jong Gil (James) entered the country on Feb 7, 2017.
“The four of them then left the country on Feb 13, the day that Kim Chol was attacked at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2),” he said during examination-in-chief by DPP Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad.
Wan Azirul Nizam said he obtained all the information on the four suspects from the Bukit Aman Special Branch.
He said that only three suspects, Ri Ji Hyon, Hong Song Hac and Ri Jae Nam boarded the plane to Jakarta, Indonesia, at 12.30pm, on Feb 13, 2017, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
“Meanwhile, another suspect (O Jong Gil) was also leaving via KLIA in the afternoon, but I do not remember his destination as I did not carry my notes today,” said Wan Azirul Nizam, who is also the ninth witness, on the 12th day of trial of Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, who are accused with four others still at large, of killing Kim Chol, 45, at the KLIA2 departure hall at 9am on Feb 13 this year.
On the process of tracking all the suspects, Wan Azirul Nizam said he was applying for arrest warrants via Interpol to locate them. However, no arrests have been made so far.
He also said that based on the recording of closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera at 2.38pm on Feb 13, 2017, the representative of North Korea's embassy and Air Koryo manager helped to purchase O Jong Gil flight tickets at KLIA.
“Representatives of the embassy and Air Koryo manager were using a special route that is only allowed for special officers and individuals who carry a special pass at 4.15pm,” he said.
He added that his investigation also found that both of them were representatives of the North Korean Embassy in the country and also the manager of Air Koryo, who was based in Malaysia.
Wan Azirul Nizam said he knew the identity of the two men after their images were submitted to the Bukit Aman Special Branch.
To another question on the CCTV footage, he said that he ordered the recording to be copied into DVD form.
The trial before Justice Azmi Ariffin continues tomorrow.
- Bernama
