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A Malaysian judge has set an October 2 trial date for two women accused of murdering the North Korean leader's half-brother.
- Trial starts October 2 and expected to last two months
- Kim Jong-nam was killed with XV nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13
- Pyongyang denies any role in the killing
Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong are accused of smearing Kim Jong-nam's face with the banned VX nerve agent at a crowded airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur on February 13.
He died about 20 minutes later.
The women, who face a possible death penalty if convicted, said they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank for a hidden-camera TV show.
Judge Azmi Ariffin estimated the trial would last for two months.
The women appeared in court wearing traditional Malay dresses and smiled at their lawyers and embassy officials.
They were handcuffed as they were led to the dock.
But after the judge left the room, Aisyah was in tears as her lawyer debriefed her.
The two women are the only suspects in custody in a killing that South Korea's spy agency said was part of a five-year plot by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to kill a brother he reportedly never met.
Malaysian police have said four North Korean suspects fled the country the same day Kim Jong-nam was killed.
While Kim Jong-nam was not thought to be seeking influence in the Government, his status as eldest son in the current generation of North Korea's founding family could have made him appear to be a danger to his half brother's rule.
Pyongyang has denied any role in the killing and has not even acknowledged that the dead man was Kim Jong-nam.
.jpg/8753614 "Kim Jong-nam")
AP
Topics: murder-and-manslaughter, courts-and-trials, security-intelligence, malaysia, korea-democratic-people-s-republic-of, indonesia, vietnam