Asked about Ri Jong Chol’s demand for an apology and compensation during an interview with NHK, a Japanese TV station on Sunday, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said there was no basis nor need for Malaysian police to apologise, let alone compensate him.
“His demand for an apology and compensation is ludicrous,” Khalid was quoted as saying by the daily.
“I’d like to reiterate that the Royal Malaysia Police treated him well throughout the period that he was remanded under police custody. From day one, we conducted our investigation by the book and followed procedure to the letter.”
This was the second time that Ri was making the claim.
On Saturday, after arriving in Beijing, following his deportation from Malaysia, Ri made the same demand for an apology and compensation, besides saying that he was a victim of a conspiracy by Malaysian authorities attempting to damage the honour of North Korea.
Ri had told reporters outside the North Korean embassy in Beijing that he was presented with false evidence in Malaysia, and that police showed him pictures of his family in detention.
“I think he is delusional and desperate to claim that the police mistreated him and threatened his family.
“His claims that we coerced him and subjected him to painful questioning are blatant lies and designed to paint Malaysia, especially the police, in a bad light,” Khalid told The Star.
The NHK interview also showed Ri singing a song praising North Korea. According to Ri, he sang the patriotic song in his mind during the alleged “painful questioning” by Malaysian police.
Another interesting revelation by Ri during the interview was that the North Korean diplomat, Hyon Kwang Song, who is also wanted as a suspect by police, was actually his neighbour. Ri was apprehended by police a few days after the death of Jong Nam, from a condominium in Jalan Kuchai Lama.
Ri told NHK that he was on “greeting terms” with Hyon but did not know the latter’s whereabouts.
Jong Nam, who is the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, arrived in Malaysia on Feb 6, and was at klia2 to catch a 10.30am flight to Macau on Feb 13 when he was attacked at around 9am, by two women with a chemical poison, which has now been identified as a VX nerve agent.
He sought help at the customer service counter and was treated at the airport clinic but died on the way to Putrajaya Hospital.
Police have charged the two women, a Vietnamese named Doan Thi Huong and Indonesian, Siti Aisyah.
Aside from Ri, police initially arrested a Malaysian said to be Siti’s boyfriend, Muhammad Farid Jallaludin, to help in investigations.
Four other male suspects, all North Korean, fled the country on the same day of the murder. They have been identified as Ri Ji Hyon, Hong Song Hac, O Jong Gil and Ri Jae Nam.
Two other North Korean suspects, Hyon Kwang Song, who is the second secretary with the embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Air Koryo employee, Kim Uk Il, are also wanted by police to help in the investigations.
The murder investigation has disrupted diplomatic relations between Malaysia and North Korea, and also resulted in the expulsion of North Korean ambassador Kang Chol yesterday.