Women charged in murder of North Korean in KL airport to testify
KUALA LUMPUR: Two women charged with murdering the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un must answer for their role in a well-planned conspiracy, a Malaysian judge said yesterday, but added that the evidence did not prove a political assassination.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese, face the death penalty on charges of murdering Kim Jong Nam by smearing his face with VX, a nerve agent banned by the United Nations, at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb 13 last year.
The murder was a "well-planned conspiracy between the women and the four North Koreans at large", trial judge Azmi Ariffin said in a ruling that took more than two hours to read.
"I must therefore call upon them to enter their defence."
He added: "I cannot rule out that this could be a political assassination. Despite that, I am unable to confirm this fact."
The court has set dates for the women to take the stand between November and next February.
Both women arrived at the high court on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur handcuffed and wearing bulletproof vests, to be escorted into the courtroom by gun-wielding policemen.
They are in their 20s and both have pleaded not guilty, saying they thought they were involved in a prank for a reality TV show.
But Judge Azmi said he was not persuaded by the defence argument, since there was no hidden crew and no attempt to bring the target in on the joke, as is usual in such shows.
Huong did not react to the ruling, but Siti Aisyah burst into tears and had to be comforted by her lawyers and officials of the Indonesian embassy.
She was very disappointed, said her lawyer, Mr Gooi Soon Seng, who expressed surprise at the decision.
"We are still very confident that we have a good defence," he added. "It does not mean they are found guilty, it just means that he (the judge) found that the prosecution have proven there is a prima facie case."
Huong's lawyers also said they did not expect the ruling.
In Vietnam, responding to yesterday's events, her father, Mr Doan Van Thanh, said, "I don't know what to do next. I just hope they will announce her innocent so that she can return home." - REUTERS
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