The Shah Alam High Court on Friday set the first hearing for Oct. 2 in the trial of the two suspects in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 29, appeared at the pre-trial hearing at the court in Selangor state under tight security. Judge Azmi Ariffin decided to have them enter their pleas on Oct. 2 and that the trial would take place over 23 days through Nov. 30.
Both women were first charged on March 1 at the Sepang Magistrate Court with having "common intention" with four others still at large to kill Kim Jong Nam at the departure hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport's budget airline terminal on Feb. 13.
Police said the two women smeared the victim's face with the highly lethal VX nerve agent, which is listed as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations and is banned by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.
The four others who are not named in the charge sheet were among eight North Koreans whom police had identified as having links to the murder. The four men however fled the country just hours after the assassination.
The case was transferred to the Shah Alam High Court for trial as the lower court in Sepang has no jurisdiction to hear murder cases.
Dozens of heavily armed police officers stood guard around the court complex on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur as Aisyah and Doan arrived in separate unmarked police vehicles. Both women wore a bulletproof vest over a two-piece traditional Malay long dress.
Aisyah and Doan are represented by different sets of lawyers but they have one line of defense: that they were duped by the North Koreans into thinking they were acting in a prank television show. Both allegedly had no idea who Kim Jong Nam was on that fateful day.
"There is no reason to show she knew they are poison," Aisyah's lead counsel Gooi Soon Seng told reporters outside the courtroom, referring to the liquids the women were instructed to coat their hands with. He said the prosecution had told them that traces of chemical residue were found on the clothing of both accused.
Gooi said his team has engaged an expert from the Organization on the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, a United Nations body, to assist them during the trial.
Lead prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Bin Ahmad told the court that the prosecution has lined up about 30 to 40 witnesses including 10 expert witnesses.
The prosecution also handed over about 33 sets of documents and 26 CDs to the defense. This was on top of the 44 documents submitted last month that included chemist reports, forensic reports and statements taken by the police from the two accused.
Gooi said that out of the 26 CDs, he was informed that 24 contain video footage taken from airport security cameras, including a prank, presumably a rehearsal of the attack, carried out by Aisyah before Feb. 13. The other two CDs contain documents.
Aisyah and Doan performed similar pranks in various locations over a month before the assault on Kim Jong Nam, according to their lawyers.
Gooi said they have informed the police of five such pranks Aisyah took part in but the prosecutor only found one.
Throughout the hearing Friday, both women appeared composed but Aisyah broke down when Indonesian Embassy officials approached her after the court adjourned.
Acting Ambassador for the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur Andriano Erwin said Aisyah was overwhelmed when she thought about her legal ordeal.
"She has been in jail since February. We explained to her the legal procedure. She heard it's going to be a long process. She doesn't know what is going to happen," Andriano told reporters.
Murder is a non-bailable offense in Malaysia.
Friday's proceeding was also attended by lawyer Jagjit Singh, who was appointed by the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, as an observer.
