Bangkok: Two women accused of smearing deadly VX nerve agent on Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, have been charged with murder amid high security in a Kuala Lumpur court.
The women appeared calm and solemn.
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Kuala Lumpur airport sweep after Kim Jong Nam murder
Malaysia will sweep one of the terminals at Kuala Lumpur international airport for toxic chemicals after Kim Jong Nam was murdered there with a nerve agent last week.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, were not asked to plea on the charge which carries a mandatory death sentence.
Ms Siti, wearing a red T-shirt and blue jeans, nodded as her translator told her she was accused of murder.
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Ms Doan, wearing a yellow shirt and blue jeans, answered "understand" in English as her charge was read.
The women were charged with murdering Kim Chol, the name used on the diplomatic passport carried by Mr Kim.
Mr Kim, 46, died after two women approached him from behind and smeared something on his face at a busy terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13.
Ms Aisyah, who was arrested 24 hours after the murder, has told Indonesian officials she was paid the equivalent of $117 by men with Korean or Japanese appearances to take part in what she thought was a television show prank.
Police said she felt sick, repeatedly vomiting as a side-effect of the VX agent after the attack, though Indonesian embassy officials said last week she subsequently appeared to be in good health.
Ms Doan has also claimed she did not know her actions were part of a plot to kill Mr Kim. She was identified in CCTV footage at the airport wearing a white shirt emblazed with "LOL" and was arrested in a hotel 48 hours after the murder.
Both women are from poor families.
Under Malaysian law a murder charge means an accused allegedly acted with intent to kill or to cause bodily injury likely to cause death.
If the prosecution cannot prove intent to kill, the charge could be reduced to secondary murder which carries a maximum 30-year prison sentence.
Lead prosecutor Iskander Ahmad told the packed magistrate's court he would ask for the case to be transferred to a higher court and for both women to be tried together, Associated Press reported
Magistrate Harith Sham Mohamed Yasin issued an ordered banning police or any potential witnesses commenting on the case, after an application from Ms Siti's lawyer.
Amid a heated diplomatic battle between North Korea and Malaysia, a high-level delegation from Pyongyang, including a former top diplomat to the UN, arrived in Kuala Lumpur to seek retrieval of the body and the release of Ri Jong Chol, a North Korean suspect arrested in the case.
But Malaysian authorities say the body would only be released to the next-of-kin after the completion of forensic tests. They said Mr Ri would remain in custody.
Relations soured between the once close countries after North Korea accused Malaysia of mishandling its investigation and claiming the victim was not Kim Jong-nam but a man with a diplomatic passport bearing the name Kim Chol.
There was also an attempted break-in at the morgue where the body is being held, with suspicion falling on North Korea.
Malaysian police have named as suspects four North Korean men aged between 33 and 57 who are alleged to have witnessed the attack and caught a flight out of the country immediately afterwards. Police tracked their flights to Pyongyang.
Police also want to question a diplomat at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an official of North Korea's state airline, Air Koryo, who are still believed to be in Malaysia.
They say if the diplomat doesn't come forward a warrant would be issued for his arrest. It is uncertain if any warrant would be enforceable as he enjoys diplomatic immunity.
South Korea has called for "collective measures" to punish the north, led by Mr Kim's younger half-brother Kim Jong-un, over its use of the VX agent, which is on a United Nations list of banned weapons of mass destruction.
South Korea has accused North Korea's spy agency of plotting the assassination after reports Kim Jong-un issued a "standing order" to assassinate his elder sibling five years ago.
Experts say the poison was almost certainly produced in a state weapons laboratory.
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