Trial of Indonesian and Vietnamese women accused of murdering Kim Jong-nam to resume on January 7
- Lawyers for the two complained of difficulties in getting witnesses to take the stand at the Shah Alam High Court, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur
- The pair are being tried for killing Kim by applying the deadly VX nerve agent on his face, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13 last year
A Malaysian court on Wednesday set a January 7 start date for the defence phase of the trial of two Southeast Asian women charged with murdering Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.
Meanwhile, lawyers for the two complained of difficulties in getting witnesses to take the stand at the Shah Alam High Court, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
Lawyers for Indonesian defendant Siti Aisyah, 26, had to apply to the court to compel the prosecution to furnish them with the statements given by eight witnesses to the police during their investigation, in order for them to better prepare for her defence.
Aisyah is being jointly tried with Doan Thi Huong, 30, from Vietnam, for killing Kim by applying the deadly VX nerve agent on his face, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s budget terminal on February 13 last year.
In August, judge Azmi Ariffin ruled that the prosecution had established enough evidence based on the testimony of 34 witnesses and airport security camera footage, and ordered the two women to defend themselves against what he said was a “well-planned conspiracy” hatched with four North Korean suspects still at large.
Aisyah and Huong are accused of having “common intention” with the four North Koreans to murder Kim, but the four – Ri Ji-hyon, Ri Jae-nam, Hong Song-hac and O Jong-gil – fled Malaysia within hours of the incident and are believed to have returned to North Korea.