Judge Says Kim Jong-nam’s Murder Could Be Political, No Evidence to Prove It

A court has ruled to proceed with the prosecution against Indonesians Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, who are suspected of killing Kim Jong-nam last year in the Kuala Lumpur airport.

"I must accordingly find that the prosecution had made out a prima facie case against the accused persons and I must, therefore, call upon them to enter their defense on their respective charges," Judge Azmi Ariffin told the Shah Alam High Court on Thursday.

The judge stressed that it could have been a "political assassination," but doubted if there was a "well-planned conspiracy," extending the trial by at least another two months.

According to the prosecution, the women smeared something that appeared to be a powerful toxin on Kim Jong-nam's face, and knew perfectly well what they were doing.

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Defense lawyers, in turn, have stated that the incident was a politically motivated assassination, while the women were beguiled into participating in it. They accused people, linked to the North Korean Embassy in the country, of orchestrating the attack. The lawyers stated they were "deeply disappointed with the ruling," stressing that the real killers had fled the country, while Aisyah and Huong had become the scapegoats.

If found guilty, the women face death by hanging.

On February 13, 2017, Kim, traveling under the name of Kim Chol, died at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. He was about to board a flight to Macau, where he lived with his family in exile. According to the police, he was allegedly killed with the VX nerve agent, a substance that is considered to be a weapon of mass destruction by the UN.