Court delays trial of Indonesian over murder of Kim Jong Nam
Print Edition
The trial of an Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader鈥檚 half-brother was put on hold yesterday due to a row over witness statements, the latest delay in the case.
Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam have been on trial for over a year, accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam by smearing nerve agent VX on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport.
The brazen assassination in February last year shocked the world but the women have denied murder, saying they believed they were taking part in a prank and were tricked by North Korean agents.
The women, in their 20s, went on trial together in October 2017.
But proceedings have moved slowly due to the large numbers of witnesses and the fact hearings are held infrequently.
The defense stage of Aisyah鈥檚 trial had originally been due to begin in November but was delayed to January after her main lawyer fell ill.
And yesterday, proceedings in Aisyah鈥檚 case were temporarily halted when the High Court refused to grant her lawyers access to some witness statements, and they decided to appeal.
Huong鈥檚 trial is due to resume in March and the court will rule on Friday whether it will go ahead, or be put on hold with Aisyah鈥檚.
The prosecution stage of the trial, during which the women appeared for hearings together, wrapped up in August.
The defense parts of their trials will be held separately.
Aisyah鈥檚 lawyer Gooi Soon Seng said the witness statements were 鈥渆ssential鈥 for the defense and he would appeal the ruling 鈥 a process that could take months.
鈥淲ithout (the statements) there would be a real miscarriage of justice. It would compromise our case,鈥 he told reporters at the court in Shah Alam, on he outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
The seven statements are from witnesses including people who drove Kim Jong Nam around in Malaysia and acquaintances of Aisyah.
Prosecutors have refused to hand them over, arguing they should not be made public.
Under current laws, the women will be sentenced to death by hanging if convicted of murder.
Malaysia鈥檚 new government has vowed to abolish capital punishment, although parliament still needs to vote.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
