KUALA LUMPUR – North Korea must respect and abide by Malaysia’s law in regard to the post-mortem of that country’s leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Jong-nam, said Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
Dismissing an allegation that Malaysia was purposely delaying the process to release Jong-nam’s remains, the Inspector-General of Police said as long as DNA from his family had not been obtained, the investigation on the case could not be completed.
“They (North Korea) must abide by Malaysian law.
“While in Malaysia, everyone must obey and follow our rules and regulations, including North Korea,” he said yesterday.
Khalid was commenting on the allegation by North Korean Ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol that Malaysia purposely rejected their claim for Jong-nam’s remains.
“If they disagree with police action, then they can seek advice from their lawyers,” Khalid added.
On Friday night, Kang Chol told journalists waiting at Hospital Kuala Lumpur’s mortuary, that Malaysian authorities had done a post-mortem on their citizen without permission.
“This is a violation of the human rights of our citizen and infringing upon our citizen, disregarding the elementary international laws and consular laws,” he said.
In another development, Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Seri Abdul Samah Mat denied rumours of a second post-mortem to be conducted on Jong-nam.
“This is just rumours and there is no truth to it.
Read also: N. Korea accuses Malaysia of working with its enemies
“If really a second post-mortem is conducted, it will require a court order,” he said.
Comm Abdul Samah said police would give priority to the family of Jong-nam to claim his body.
He said the police had received a request from the North Korean embassy to claim the body.
“Only the North Korean embassy has asked to claim the body, but our priority is the ‘next of kin’ and for them to identify the body and, following that, to ascertain who is the rightful claimant,” he said.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai assured the public that security at the country’s airports is not compromised, in the wake of Jong-nam’s killing at KLIA2.
Security on the “air side” of airports has always been at the highest level, he said.
“The incident happened on the ‘land side’. That is not to say security is bad there.
“There are high-resolution cameras in the area and that was how police identified the suspects.
“The land side is not only guarded by the Malaysia Airports (Holdings Bhd) but the police as well,” Liow, also the MCA president and Bentong MP, told reporters after celebrating Chinese New Year with Bentong prison complex inmates.
Read also: North Korea to reject Jong-nam’s autopsy report, says envoy
