Malaysia court orders two women to enter defence for Kim Jong-nam murder
Lawyers for the two women have said their clients were pawns in a political assassination with clear links to the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur
The murder trial of two women accused of assassinating the half-brother of North Korea’s leader can proceed, a Malaysian court ruled Thursday, in a blow to their families who insist the pair were tricked into carrying out the dramatic hit.
After hearing the prosecution case, the judge said there was sufficient evidence to support a murder charge against Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam, accused of murdering Kim Jong-nam with nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur airport.
Judge Azmi Ariffin said the evidence presented in court since the trial started in October pointed to a “well-planned conspiracy” with a group of North Korean suspects who are still at large.
On the trail of the women accused of killing Kim Jong-nam
“I must therefore call upon (the suspects) to enter their defence on their respective charges,” he said in his ruling to the Shah Alam High Court, outside Kuala Lumpur.
The women, who are set to testify during the defence stage of the trial, looked shocked and tearful as the ruling was handed down. The judge could have chosen to acquit the women if he thought the evidence was insufficient.
Their families insist the pair were tricked into carrying out the cold war-style killing, and had been hopeful they would be acquitted, although state prosecutors insisted they had a strong case.
“She knows nothing, she was fooled. The case (against her) was made up,” Aisyah’s father, Asria, said from the family’s village on Indonesia’s Java island.
