KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The trial of two women charged with the murder of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will continue, a Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, who is on trial for the killing of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader, is escorted as she arrives at the Shah Alam High Court on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia August 16, 2018. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin
Malaysian judge ruled on Thursday, adding that the evidence was insufficient to prove it was 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 United Nations, at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13 last year.
Trial judge Azmi Ariffin accepted the prosecution’s case that the women shared a common intention, with four individuals still at large, to cause the death of Kim Jong Nam, and ordered them to enter their defense.
“I must accordingly find that the prosecution has made a prima facie case against the accused persons and must therefore call upon them to enter their defense,” he said as he read his judgment.
While Azmi did not rule out the possibility that the killing could have been a political assassination, there was insufficient evidence to prove it, he added.
The women will take the stand between November and February next year, the court has scheduled.
The women, who are both in their 20s, have pleaded not guilty, saying they thought they were involved in a prank for a reality TV show.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, who is on trial for the killing of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader, is escorted as she arrives at the Shah Alam High Court on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia August 16, 2018. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin
The judge, however, said he was not persuaded by the defense argument that it could have been a prank, or a prank reality show, as there was no hidden crew and no attempt to bring the target in on the joke, as is usual in such shows.
“The sole purpose of a prank is fun with no intention to cause any type of harm ... the use of the word suggests that the act must get everyone laughing at the end, even the target,” Azmi told the court.
After the ruling, a weeping Siti Aisyah was comforted by her lawyers and officials of the Indonesian embassy. Huong did not react.