SELANGOR STATE, Malaysia (Reuters) — Lawyers representing two women charged with killing the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader said on Friday (June 16) that some of the documents they had received from prosecutors would be sent to experts in Denmark and other countries for further assessment.
The prosecutors handed over a set of 44 documents, including toxicology, autopsy, and arrest reports, the suspects’ statements and photographs, to the women’s lawyers earlier in the day, weeks after complaints were first raised over authorities’ refusal to share key evidence.
Indonesian Siti Aishah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, face the death penalty if convicted of murdering Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13. The two women are accused of smearing Kim’s face with VX nerve agent, a chemical described by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction.
Gooi Soong Seng, Aishah’s lawyer, said some of the documents to be examined were related to the use of the VX chemical. Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Huong’s lawyer, said the defense was also looking for “essential evidence” that is currently in Vietnam, declining to elaborate.
Friday’s proceedings, the first by the Shah Alam High Court, took place at the Kajang Women’s Prison, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, where the women were held. The next pre-trial procedure will be held on July 28, the lawyers said.