JAKARTA – Indonesia has taken a step back as Malaysia investigates the murder of Mr Kim Jong Nam, saying that it will seek access to an Indonesian suspect only after the probe concludes.
“We respect the legal process that is underway in Malaysia and we’ll continue to wait until they grant us consular access (to Siti Aisyah).
“That will be our focus,” said Mr Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, director for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities abroad at Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry.
Read also: Kim Jong-nam’s murder: So who is Siti Aisyah, really?
Malaysia’s handling of the sensational murder of Mr Kim on Feb 13 has raised just as many questions in Jakarta as it has in Kuala Lumpur.
According to Malaysian law, the authorities reserve the right to deny consular access to a person involved in a legal case until the investigation has concluded.
Mr Iqbal insisted, however, that it was too early to jump to any conclusions, noting the Malaysian investigators’ decision to extend Siti’s remand for another seven days due to a lack of evidence.
“It is too soon to make any legal inferences from the case,” he said in a statement to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Separately, Indonesia’s National Police chief General Tito Karnavian told reporters that the police were in contact with the Royal Malaysian Police.
He said he would leave it up to the Malaysian authorities to determine whether there is enough evidence to make a case against Siti and other people of interest.
“We will look into it, but whether or not their testimonies are false will be up to (Malaysian authorities),” he told reporters.
This article was first published on Feb 24, 2017.
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