Malaysian Cops Hunt For Eye Witnesses To Kim Jong-nam Murder

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian police are seeking two Indonesian women to appear as witnesses in an ongoing trial over the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Kim Jong-nam died at the Kuala Lumpur's International Airport in February 2017 after a toxic VX nerve agent was rubbed on his face. The police identified the two women as 24-year-old Raisa Rinda Salma and 33-year-old Dessy Meyrisinta, reports CNN.

Their last known address was given as the Flamingo Hotel in Ampang, Malaysia, a town on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

As the two women could not be contacted, the authorities are appealing to the public for information on their whereabouts.

Speaking to CNN, Selangor State Criminal Investigations Department chief Fadzil Ahmat wouldn't say whether the women were associates of two women who have been charged with killing the murder, only that they are being sought as witnesses. Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong, nationals of Indonesia and Vietnam respectively, are currently on trial for allegedly murdering Kim Jong-nam by wiping his face with the highly lethal nerve agent VX at an airport in the Malaysian capital.

Lawyers for both women maintain they were duped by a group of North Koreans, four of whom have been charged in relation to Kim's murder but have since left the country.

In August, Aisyah's father Asria maintained that his daughter was tricked and called upon the government of Indonesia to do more to secure her release. "She was framed. I asked her and she doesn't know what really happened," he told CNN.

The lawyers for both Aisyah and Doan said their clients will take the stand to defend themselves once the trial resumes later this year.

It will be the first time either of them has spoken publicly about the killing. Siti's hearing will begin in November and Doan's next year. (IANS)

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