Toxicologist says North Korea leader’s half-brother was carrying vials containing atropine, an antidote for poisons such as VX and insecticides

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Kim Jong-nam, the murdered half-brother of North Korea’s leader, had a dozen vials of antidote for lethal nerve agent VX in his sling bag on the day he was poisoned, a Malaysian court has heard.

Two women, Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong, from Vietnam, are charged with conspiring with four North Korean fugitives in the murder, making use of banned chemical weapon VX at the Kuala Lumpur international airport on 13 February.

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The vials contained atropine, an antidote for poisons such as VX and insecticides, toxicologist Dr K. Sharmilah told the court on Wednesday, according to state news agency Bernama.

However, she did not know if the vials were marked in Korean, she said when cross-examined by Siti Aisyah’s lawyer, Gooi Soon Seng.

Kim Jong Nam, who was living in exile in Macau, had criticised his family’s dynastic rule of North Korea and his brother had issued a standing order for his execution, some South Korean lawmakers have said.

Malaysia was forced to return Kim Jong-nam’s body and allow the suspects hiding in the embassy to return home, in exchange for the release of nine Malaysians barred from leaving Pyongyang.

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Defence lawyers say Siti Aisyah and Huong, arrested in Kuala Lumpur within days of the killing, were duped into thinking they were playing a prank for a reality TV show and did not know they were poisoning Kim Jong-nam.

North Korea has denied accusations by South Korean and US officials that Kim Jong-un’s regime was behind the killing.

The court hearings, which have run more than a month, are to resume on 22 January.