Allegation of Indonesian’s Involvement Investigated
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Kompas/Raditya Helabumi
Siti Aisyah used to live in the red house in a densely populated area on Gang Kacang RT 05/RW 03 at Jalan Angke Indah, Tambora, West Jakarta. Siti is a citizen holding the Indonesian passport, who was arrested by the Malaysian police for allegedly being involved in the murder of a North Korean man named Kim Jong Nam at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia. The photo was taken of Friday (17/2).
SERANG, KOMPAS – Almost nobody in Sindangsari village, Pabuaran, Serang regency, Banten, believes that the female resident identified as SA was involved in the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s stepbrother Kim Jong Nam. SA’s mother never knew about her daughter’s activities abroad.
On Friday, officials from the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur were still unable to meet with SA who had been detained in Selangor, Malaysia. “So far, we have yet to obtain a permit from the Malaysian authorities to meet with SA,” deputy Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Andreano Erwin told Kompas.
The Malaysian police arrested SA early on Thursday due to her alleged involvement in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, 46, the older stepbrother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Apart from SA, the Malaysian police also arrested a Vietnamese woman Doan Thi Huong and a Malaysian man.
Kim Jong Nam was reported to have died after he was poisoned, about to board a plane that would leave Kuala Lumpur for Macau on Monday. He died on his way to a local hospital. Quoting a South Korean intelligence report, a South Korean member of Parliament said that the two females who were arrested by the Malaysian police were North Korean spies. Jong Nam was known for his critical voice in defying his family’s dynastic rule over North Korea.
SA known as quiet
Benah, 50, SA’s mother, lives in Sindangsari village in Pabuaran district, some 15 kilometers away from downtown Serang.
In an interview with Kompas on Friday, Benah said that she did not know much about her daughter’s activities abroad. She only knows that SA sells women’s clothing in Batam, Riau Island. However, Benah said that she did not know where SA lived in Batam.
“I do not know anything about [the arrest]. I only saw the news on TV. I was shocked,” she said. Benah said she could not contact anyone to ask about SA, as her daughter had never given her contacts for her work colleagues.
“She never likes handing out other people’s phone numbers. If she wants to call me, she will,” she said.
In front of Benah’s house, there was a crowd of locals. Several of them were quietly talking about SA and their disbelief of her murder-related arrest reported from Malaysia.
Community unit (RW) 011 head in Sindangsari village, Sukria, 45, said that SA was known as a quiet individual. Whenever she is home, she rarely goes out. “SA is not a talkative person. The last time she was home was during the Chinese New Year holiday [in late January],” he said.
According to Sukria, at that time, SA was staying overnight at Benah’s house before leaving the next morning. That was the last time he heard about SA until the news of her arrest. Her identification card still says that she lives in Sindangsari village.
SA has also lived in Tambora, West Jakarta. Yanti, 39, her neighbor, said that SA at first worked at a jacket factory in Tambora. She worked there for a few years and dated her employer’s son before getting married and having a son with him.
The jacket factory where SA worked is painted red with an iron trellis and gates around the building. A few years after they were married, SA and her husband moved to Malaysia and worked there. The couple divorced in 2012.
The Directorate General of Immigration says that it is still checking the data on the 25-year-old woman. Batam’s Class I Immigration Office chief Teguh Prayitno said that his office was still checking her data in the Border Control Management System, which records individuals’ passports.
Separately, Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) chief Nusron Wahid said that SA was not registered as an Indonesian migrant worker. Her name was not included in the list of Indonesian migrant worker identification card holders.
Alleged fraud victim
In Jakarta, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that he remained unconvinced that SA was a North Korean spy as was reported by South Korean media outlets. This is because the local authorities could track down SA’s whereabouts from the scene of the crime.
“If she is indeed a secret agent, I think she would have left no traces. In this case, she would still return to her hotel to hide there. She would still stay in the city near the airport [where the incident occurred],” Jusuf Kalla said at the Vice Presidential Office in Jakarta.
Kalla said that he had been informed that SA was just a victim of the conspiracy to murder Kim Jong Nam. He said that he believed SA was duped by unknowingly injecting or spraying someone with poison.
“I think she was duped, and she might have thought that it was all just a game. She is a victim here,” Kalla said.
The incident, Kalla said, would not affect Indonesia-North Korea relations. Kalla said that he had ensured the government would take action to investigate the case. Even if SA is involved, Kalla remains convinced that she is a victim.
From Kuala Lumpur, it was reported that Malaysia would not hand over Kim Jong Nam’s body to North Korean authorities before it received a DNA sample from Jong Nam’s family. On Friday, Malaysian forensic experts were conducting sample tests on Jong Nam’s body to determine the type of poison that was allegedly sprayed on his face.
“Thus far, no family members have come to identify or claim the body. We need a DNA sample from a family member for a DNA matching with the deceased,” Selangor police chief Abdul Samah Mat said.
A formal request to retrieve Jong Nam’s body has been delivered by North Korean diplomats in Kuala Lumpur.
