The Malaysian Insight

TRACES of the VX nerve agent were found on one of the accused’s shirts tested by the Chemistry Department, the Shah Alam High Court was told this morning.

The department’s Chemical Weapons and Analysis head Dr Raja Subramaniam testified that he had carried out testing on the evidence given to him by police for chemical traces.

“We detected a degradation product of VX, known as VX acid, on Siti Aisyah’s sleeveless shirt.”

Raja, who is the eighth witness in the Kim Jong-nam murder trial, then identified the shirt in photographs shown to him.

He added that the test conducted on a long-sleeved shirt and a cut on Doan Thi Huong’s fingernail also found traces of VX and the “nerve agent precursor”.

When asked to explain what this meant, Dr Raja said it was confirmation of the presence of VX.

He said traces of VX were found on a sleeve of Doan’s long-sleeved shirt after being asked by deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin to mark the areas on the clothes that had traces of VX and tendered as part of court documents.

Earlier today, Dr Raja told the court that pure VX in its physical form was colourless, odourless and tasteless.

He said VX in its non-volatile form could be transported easily in a mineral water bottle, and could be detected only with a special detector.

The airports in Malaysia, he said, were not equipped with such detectors.

“Only countries like the US and the UK have the special detector.”

He added that temperature affected the physical form of VX and how fast it vaporised.

He said a small drop of the nerve agent was enough to cause a fatal disruption to the nervous system.

If the decontamination process was carried out within 15 minutes of being in contact with VX, it would not cause a fatality, he said.

Earlier, Dr Raja said the chemical test conducted on Jong-nam’s belongings, such as his bag and blazer, also found traces of VX.

The nerve agent was also found in the deceased’s blood samples, eye mucosa and face.

When asked to explain how the nerve agent was absorbed into the skin, Dr Raja said moisture could accelerate the process of contamination, and agreed that the eye mucosa was the best route of entry as it was moist.

“Because it has no barrier, it has lots of blood vessels compared to the palm, which has more fatty tissues. So, absorption is rapid through the eyes.”

Siti Aisyah’s counsel, Gooi Soon Seng, was adamant in wanting to take a look at the clothes that were subjected to the chemical test, despite being told that the traces of VX may still be “active”.

Judge Azmi Ariffin said this could be done in a lab on the advice of experts like Dr Raja.

Dr Raja told the court before it adjourned that the “best” method to kill someone using VX would be to apply it on the subject’s neck and eyes, instead of “splashing” it on the face and having the subject inhale it.

“If I were in that position, I would apply it on the eyes and skin on the neck. As I mentioned earlier, the route of entry is quicker through the eyes.

“If you spray it, you would need a solvent to reduce the viscosity so that you can spray it as an aerosol, which means it would be diluted. So, you would have to use more to have the same effect.”

He said VX was the most toxic nerve agent ever produced by man.

“It’s non-volatile. It is very strategic as a contact-point hazard, which means you can target any individual without affecting the surroundings.”

Azmi set 9am on Monday for the court to resume at the Chemistry Department in Petaling Jaya, where the deputy public prosecutor will show exhibits with traces of VX to the defence before having the items tendered to the court.

The trial will resume with cross-examination at the Shah Alam High Court in the afternoon. – October 5, 2017.