Malaysian police escorted Doan Thi Huong (centre) on August 16 (Photo: AFP/VNA)KualaLumpur (VNA) – Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese citizen and one of thetwo women accused in the murder of a Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)national, was ordered to prepare her defence for next year during a court hearingon August 16.
Huong,along with Siti Aisyah from Indonesia, were together accused of smearing the VXnerve agent on the DPRK citizen, who held a passport under the name of Kim Chol,at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia on February 13, 2017.
JudgeAzmi Ariffin spent almost three hours during the hearing at Shah Alam HighCourt in Selangor reading out more than 80 pages of documents, including theindictment against the two women and his assessment of the case.
He declaredthat the prosecutors had made prima facie evidence against the accused womenand therefore, called upon them to enter their defence on their respectivecharges before the final ruling is given.
There issufficient evidence in court to infer the pair had engaged in a well-plannedconspiracy to kill the victim, according to Ariffin. He also requested the twowomen remain in custody to serve the investigation and trial.
Thejudge said that he cannot rule out that this could be a political assassination,as there have been media rumours that the victim was a half-brother of DPRKleader Kim Jong-un, but noted there was no concrete evidence to support this.
Thedefence phase of the trial is set to take place next year on January 7-10,January 28-31, and February 18-19.
Huongand Aisyah were arrested a day after the murder occurred last year. The twodefendants have insisted they are not guilty as they had no idea about themurder conspiracy, instead claiming that they were duped into thinking theywere taking part in a harmless prank for a reality TV show when they attacked theDPRK national.
However,the prosecutors have argued that they were well-trained assassins who knewexactly what they were doing.
Thewomen’s lawyers argued that their clients have faced unfair trial as authoritieswere unable to catch the four DPRK nationals who recruited the pair and werethe masterminds behind the murder. The court has been told that this group offour had provided the women with the poison on the day of the murder beforeflying out of Malaysia.
If foundguilty, Huong and Aisyah could face the death penalty.–VNA
VNA
