FEBRUARY 24 — The Malaysian police have made remarkable progress in the investigation of Kim Jong-nam’s assassination at KLIA2.

In addition to the three foreigners already nabbed—a North Korean man, an Indonesian woman and a Vietnamese woman, IGP Khalid Abu Bakar announced on Wednesday that the police had identified two more North Korean suspects, namely the Embassy’s second secretary and an Air Koryo employee, both still in Malaysia.

The police had requested the Embassy to hand in the suspects, and have sought the cooperation of Pyongyang to arrest the four masterminds believed to have returned to North Korea.

This progress has been a major breakthrough, proving to the Malaysian public as well as the international community that we indeed have the ability to conduct investigations on high-profile cases independently. This achievement has also changed the public’s perception of PDRM’s professionalism and competency.

Prior to this, North Korean ambassador Kang Chol accused Malaysia of colluding with South Korea to politicize the Kim Jong-nam murder case, and has asked to join in the investigation. The request has subsequently been turned down by the Malaysian police.

The new revelations show that the envoy’s earlier accusations against the police have been unfounded. If North Korea had any additional information that could lead to the solving of this case, it should have offered its full cooperation to the Malaysian police instead.

We are a country run by rule of law, and everything has to go according to legal requirements. Pyongyang should be aware of some of the customary rules governing the cooperation in police affairs between countries, and that there are international laws to be complied with when it comes to exchange of information and extradition of criminals.

PM Najib responded to the North Korean allegations by expressing his faith in the professionalism of PDRM. He said the police would investigate the case in an objective manner, and this could be proven from the acquisition of fresh clues.

The PM’s statement has won the approval of most Malaysians, and many have expressed their willingness to offer their strong backing to the police and support their continuous investigations into Kim Jong-nam’s death. As the incident occurred on the Malaysian soil, the police have the absolute need to investigate the case thoroughly in accordance with our own laws.

As a matter of fact, the Malaysian police boast a powerful information-sharing network, a valuable legacy from the colonial times that has made ours one of the most sophisticated policing systems in the world. The progress made in the probe of Kim’s assassination could be largely attributed to such a system.

Besides displaying a high level of competency in solving major cases like this, perhaps the police should also do more to protect the property and safety of ordinary citizens like us.

We cannot deny that Malaysians in general still distrust the police, and have blamed the poor social security on a lack of efficiency on the part of the police.

Sure enough black sheep do exist inside the police force, those who collect bribes from the people or ignore reports lodged by snatch theft victims, for instance. All these have dealt a severe blow on public confidence towards PDRM.

Our police force is a massive institution that unfortunately houses also some undesirable elements in its midst.

Unprofessional attitude and unwarranted treatment from police officers should be reported via the proper channels so that such irregularities could be dealt with effectively and the professional image of PDRM restored.

* This article was first published here.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.