By NILE BOWIE
he trial of two women accused of assassinating the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader commenced this week at the Shah Alam High Court on the outskirts of Malaysia’s capital.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese national Doan Thi Huong, 28, are the only suspects in custody in a killing that South Korean intelligence officials have alleged was an elaborate plot coordinated by Pyongyang.The pair are charged with murdering Kim Jong-nam at the Kuala Lumpur International airport this February 13 by smearing his face with a highly toxic VX
nerve agent, a chemical the United Nations classifies as a weapon of mass destruction.Both women maintain their innocence and say they were duped by North Korean handlers into believing
they were carrying out a prank for a reality TV show.
Police acknowledged several North Koreans suspected of organizing the lethal poisoning had left Malaysia on the day of the attack, while others were permitted to exit in a subsequent diplomatic deal with Pyongyang.
Four North Korean suspects are accused alongside the women in the prosecution’s charge sheet as having common intent to kill Kim, though they remain at large and Malaysian authorities have for unclear reasons not released their names.
The two women suspects’ defense lawyers have already cast doubt on the fairness of the trial, complaining that Malaysian authorities had compromised the proceedings by allowing the North Korean suspects to leave the country.
The women’s lawyers urged the court to reveal the identities of the four other suspects, as well as airport closed circuit television recordings of the incident and any recorded statements that could serve as evidence of their involvement.
Judge Azmi Ariffin has refused the request, a move the suspects’ lawyers have claimed could be motivated by the prosecution’s desire to secure any sort of conviction in the high-profile case.
Lead prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad intends to call 30 to 40 witnesses and 10 expert witnesses, including pathologists and chemists, to testify.
Both women pleaded not guilty on Monday’s opening day of the trial, which is expected to run until November 30. The women face a mandatory death sentence if convicted.
http://www.atimes.com/article/cloudy-prospects-kim-jong-nam-murder-trial/
