THE fifth day of the Kim Jong-nam murder trial began at the “open court” of the Chemistry Department in Petaling Jaya, as the defence seeks to inspect the clothes worn by two suspects on the day of his death.

Late last night, police issued a statement barring members of the media from observing the proceedings at the open court, citing security reasons.

Local and international media began gathering outside the building from as early as 7am today to await the arrival of the judge, prosecutors and lawyers.

On Thursday, judge Azmi Ariffin had ordered proceedings to be moved to the Chemistry Department after lawyers requested to see the clothes worn by the two accused – Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong – which had traces of the VX nerve agent, the chemical believed to have killed the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The court proceedings are expected to resume at the Shah Alam High Court in the afternoon.

The first week of the trial, which kicked off on October 2, saw eight prosecution witnesses give their statements.

The prosecution is led by deputy public prosecutor Mohd Iskandar Ahmad, who is building the case by trying to prove that Jong-nam, who used the alias “Kim Chol” in his passport, was killed by the two suspects using the VX nerve agent.

Jong-nam was allegedly attacked with a mystery liquid while waiting for his flight to Macau at the klia2 departure lounge on February 13.

Doctors and medical attendants testified that he was alive, but appeared to be in pain and exhibited symptoms of a seizure, when he was brought to the airport clinic shortly after the attack.

Pathology and chemical experts also testified last week that Jong-nam’s death was consistent with symptoms of VX poisoning.

Siti Aisyah and Doan have pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder, which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction. – October 9, 2017.