Case of women charged with murder of brother to North Korean president moved to higher court

The two women charged with the killing of Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, with a nerve agent, are both set to be tried in a Malaysian high court.

Both suspects identified as Indonesian Siti Aishah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, face the death penalty if convicted of murdering Kim at Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13.

Gooi Soon Seng, counsel to Aishah, one of the suspects told the court the police and prosecution had yet to supply the defence with documents and other evidence needed for the case.

Read also: 2 suspects face murder charge over poisoning of N.Korean president’s brother

“The concept of a fair trial demands that all material documents should be supplied to the defence at the earliest opportunity,” Gooi said.

Police allege the women smeared VX nerve agent – a chemical on a UN list of weapons of mass destruction – on Kim Jong-nam’s face in an assault recorded on airport security cameras.

Back in February, Malaysia’s health minister Subramaniam Sathasivam revealed that the dose of nerve agent given to Kim was so high that it killed him within 20 minutes and caused “very serious paralysis.”

Sathasivam said the dose of VX given to Kim was on the high side as he showed symptoms within minutes. He said Kim fainted at the airport clinic and died in the ambulance while en route to a hospital.

 

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