KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — Attorney General Tommy Thomas should disclose why Indonesian Siti Aisyah was released from facing trial for the 2017 murder of Kim Jong-nam while a Vietnamese woman will continue to be prosecuted, the Malaysian Bar’s new president said today.
Datuk Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor, who was elected today as Malaysian Bar president, said the disclosure would be good as the murder case is now under global spotlight.
“The Malaysian Bar would definitely most welcome a response from the attorney general.
“Of course he’s not obliged to do so, but taking into consideration the case and the international attention that it’s attracted, so it will be good if the attorney general can come up with an explanation for this decision,” he told reporters here after the Malaysian Bar’s 73rd annual general meeting.
Siti Aisyah, 26, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 30 were charged with murdering North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother using liquid VX, a chemical warfare agent, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February 2017.
The High Court previously found that the prosecution had proven a prima facie case against the duo, which led to them being called to enter their defence.
On Monday, the prosecution, however, withdrew the murder charge against Siti Aisyah without giving any reason, leading to the High Court granting her a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.
On Thursday, the prosecution told the High Court that the attorney general has rejected Doan’s application to also have her charged dropped, which means she will still be on trial for Jong-nam’s murder.
The prosecution did not say why Doan’s charge will not be withdrawn.
Abdul Fareed today acknowledged the attorney general’s discretion under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution on whether to continue to charge a person or discontinue prosecution but highlighted the relatively unusual situation in Jong-Nam’s case.
Again noting the international attention on the case, he said that there remain many questions on why the two co-accused had different fates, with one released from the murder charge and another remain on trial.
“I am sure the family of the deceased also interested to know why one was let off, and also the family of Doan would like to know why she’s still in the dock to answer the charge,” he said.
