Women accused of Kim brother’s murder to testify

Kuala Lumpur, August 16 

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 on Thursday, 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 UN, at a Kuala Lumpur airport on February 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.” 

The court has set dates for the women to take the stand between November and February. Both women have pleaded not guilty. — Reuters