Suspects to plead not guilty in Kim Jong Nam’s assassination
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Two women accused of poisoning the estranged half brother of North Korea’s ruler in a bizarre airport assassination are expected to plead not guilty when they appear in a Malaysian court on Friday, their lawyers said.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong are accused of smearing Kim Jong Nam’s face with the banned VX nerve agent at a crowded airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 13. The women, who face a possible death penalty if convicted, say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank for a hidden-camera TV show.
They are the only suspects in custody in a killing that South Korea’s spy agency said was part of a five-year plot by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to kill a brother he reportedly never met. Four North Korean suspects fled the country, police say.
The women’s lawyers say their clients are expected to plead not guilty at the High Court on Friday.