Women charged with murder of Kim Jong-un's brother to testify

kim-jong-women-malaysia-afp 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 leaves the Shah Alam High Court on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Reuters

A court in Malaysia has ruled that evidence against the two women who were accused of murdering the half-brother of North Korea's leader is strong enough for the case to go to trial.

Kim Jong-nam died while on the way to hospital from Kuala Lumpur's airport last year. It was found that the toxic VX nerve agent was used to kill him. Two women, Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong, were accused of the murder. The two women pleaded not guilty and said they thought they were taking part in a TV prank show. Both face death penalty if convicted of murder.

Defence lawyers had earlier been confident that the case against their clients would be dropped, saying it was clear they had no motive to kill Mr Kim.

But a judge on Thursday ruled that the actions of the two women - which were captured on security camera footage - were enough to infer that they had intended to kill him.

Mr Kim, the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong-un, had been waiting to board a flight to Macau on 13 February last year when two women approached him in the departure area.