Indonesian Government Appoints Five Malaysian Lawyers

KOMPAS/DWI BAYU RADIUS

Warga memanjatkan doa dengan khusyuk di rumah orangtua Siti Aisyah di Desa Sindangsari, Kecamatan Pabuaran, Kabupaten Serang, Banten, Senin (10/4). Mereka berdoa untuk keselamatan Siti yang saat ini menjadi tersangka dalam kasus pembunuhan Kim Jong-nam.

KUALA LUMPUR, KOMPAS – Siti Aisyah, the Indonesian woman implicated in the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the step-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, will undergo another hearing at the Sepang Magistrate Court in Malaysia on Thursday.

As of Tuesday (11/4) the team of lawyers defending Siti had not received the charge documents from the prosecutors. However, the team of lawyers from Gooi & Azzura, who had been appointed by the Indonesian government to assist Siti, have started to prepare their defense.

Kompas reporter Luki Aulia reported from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that Siti\'s legal team consists of five Malaysian lawyers. This is part of the Indonesian government’s effort to help Siti that started after Foreign Affairs Minister Retno LP Marsudi asked Malaysia for consular access.

The access allows the team of lawyers and the Indonesian citizens protection team from the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to meet Siti. Since February 24, the team has met Siti five times. From the meetings, the team is convinced that Siti is a victim in the Kim Jong-nam murder case.

“Siti Aisyah is the victim of her own ignorance and innocence. She comes from an underprivileged background and was trying to work for a better life, but without realizing it she committed an act that she did not know would end this way,” said Andreano Erwin, a representative of the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

The result of a Kompas investigation at a number of places and into people who had been in contact with Siti in Batam, through which Siti usually went into and out of Malaysia, showed that while in Kuala Lumpur, Siti was known to have worked various jobs, including selling underclothing she brought from Batam.

An old friend of Siti’s in Batam said that she also went to Johor to work in a spa, before moving to Kuala Lumpur and working as a freelance therapist in another spa. While working in Johor, Siti got acquainted with the child of a senior diplomat from Cambodia.

According to Andreano, the Indonesian government has asked all parties involved in Siti\'s case to adhere to the principle of a suspect being considered innocent before being proven guilty.

A hearing on Thursday would be part of the administration stage of handing over the case from the lower court to the high court. In the first hearing on March 1 at the Sepang Magistrate Court, prosecutors charged Siti with murder under Article 302 and with conspiracy under Article 34 of the Criminal Code. If proven guilty, the suspect could be given the death penalty.

In Sindangsari, Serang, Banten, on Tuesday night, Siti’s family and their neighbors held another istigasah, a mass prayer that has been held every day since last Monday. Asria, Siti’s father, hoped that his daughter would be released. “There are already people taking care of Siti Aisyah. My hope is that Siti Aisyah is safe,” Asria said.

(BAY/ONG/RAZ/JOS)