The two women accused of fatally poisoning the estranged half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un were charged with his murder on Wednesday — and could get the death penalty if convicted.
Siti Aisyah, 25, of Indonesia, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, of Vietnam, allegedly coated their hands with an extremely toxic chemical — VX nerve agent — and wiped them on the face of Kim Jong Nam in Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13.
Aisyah Huong did not enter pleas because the magistrate court in Sepang, Malaysia, where they appeared has no jurisdiction over a murder case.
Prosecutors will ask for the case to be transferred to a higher court and for the women to be tried together in a single trial.
Aisyah and Huong later told investigators they were both duped into carrying out the assassination plot and thought they were playing a prank on Jong Nam, a 45-year-old globetrotting playboy. Aisyah also revealed that she was paid just $90.
Despite their claims of being tricked, Malaysian Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali said the two women will be charged with Jong Nam’s murder and, if convicted, will be put to death under a mandatory sentence, The Guardian reported.
“They will be charged in court under Section 302 [murder] of the penal code,” Ali told reporters Tuesday.
Two more suspects have been busted in connection with the murder, including a North Korean who remains in custody. The other person, a Malaysian man, is out on bail.
Authorities are still hunting for seven North Korean co-conspirators. Four of the plotters left Malaysia the day Jong Un was killed and apparently flew back to North Korea.
Meanwhile, North Korea has sent top diplomats to Malaysia to retrieve Jong Nam’s body after a tug-of-war erupted last week between the two countries over his remains.
Former United Nations diplomat Ri Tong-il is part of the high-level delegation and told reporters Tuesday that they also seek the release of the North Korean arrested in the case.
Speculation has run rampant that Kim Jong Un orchestrated the murder of his half-brother due to their testy relationship over the years. Jong Nam was allegedly the target of several previous assassination attempts purportedly ordered by Jong Un.