‘We thought it was prank for a reality TV show’ -Two women deny murdering North Korean leader’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam (Details, pics)

Two women accused of assassinating the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with a banned nerve agent pleaded not guilty at the start of a high-profile murder trial in a Malaysian court on Monday.

Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, a Vietnamese, are charged with killing Kim Jong-nam by smearing his face with VX, a chemical poison banned by the United Nations, at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport on 13 February.

Police have also named four North Koreans as suspects in the case and an Interpol red notice, an international alert just short of an arrest warrant, has been issued for the North Koreans, who remain at large. Prosecutors said the four North Koreans helped the accused women carry out several practice runs in Kuala Lumpur shopping malls.

“The prank practice carried out by the first and second accused with the supervision of the four who are still at large was preparation to see through their common intention to kill the victim,” the prosecution said in its charge sheet.
Defence lawyers demanded that the prosecution immediately name the four other suspects, who have also been charged, so they could prepare their case. “The charge must be clear,” said Siti Aisyah’s lawyer, Gooi Soon Seng. Judge Azmi Ariffin dismissed their request.

Both women wore bullet-proof vests as they were led into the court.