- Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, appeared in a Malaysian court to face murder charges over Kim Jong-nam's assassination
- The half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un was found dead at a Malaysian airport last month
- Police accuse the pair of having wiped a VX nerve agent into Kim's face at Kuala Lumpur airport
- Huong was caught on CCTV walking through the airport wearing a T-shirt with 'LOL' on
- The handcuffed women were both told they faced the death penalty if found guilty
Two women were charged Wednesday with the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, after his assassination at a Malaysian airport last month.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, were surrounded by a heavy police presence as they were charged in court over the February 13 killing involving a deadly nerve agent.
Siti, wearing a red T-shirt, was brought in first to hear the murder charge read out before being taken away. Huong, also dressed casually, then heard the charge in Vietnamese.
Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah, center, is escorted by police officers as she arrives at Sepang court in Sepang, Malaysia on Wednesday
Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Huong (L) leaves court after being charged with the murder of Kim Jong-Nam
Facing their fate: Siti Aisyah, left, is escorted by police officers out of Sepang court and Doan Thi Huong leaves, right
Huong's lawyer S. Selvam said she told the court in Vietnamese: 'I am not guilty.'
Neither woman was asked to enter a plea and their trial is not expected to begin for several months.
However, after hearing the charge, Huong's lawyer S. Selvam said she told the court in Vietnamese: 'I am not guilty.'
Selvam added his client was 'nervous as she is facing a murder charge'.
The suspects, who claim they thought they were merely taking part in a prank video, remained composed throughout the brief hearing.
Huong was caught on CCTV walking through the airport wearing a T-shirt with 'LOL' on.
Huong's lawyer S. Selvam said she told the court in Vietnamese: 'I am not guilty'. She is seen above
Siti Aisyah (C) was the first of two suspects to hear the charges against her in the murder of the North Korean leader's half-brother
A heavy armed police presence surrounded the women in court on Wednesday
Huong is escorted for Sepang Magistrate Court after the hearing on Wednesday
They appeared to be wearing bulletproof vests as they were escorted from the building, with Huong looking tired as she was lead away.
Indonesia's acting ambassador to Malaysia Andreano Erwin said Wednesday he had met Siti in court and said she was 'calm'.
'We told her to take care of her health as it will be a long trial process,' he said.
Police accuse the pair of having wiped the VX nerve agent into Kim's face at Kuala Lumpur airport. The deadly poison is classed as a weapon of mass destruction and banned around the world.
Kim was dead within 20 minutes of being attacked and would have suffered a 'very painful death' as his organs shut down, Malaysia's health minister has said.
Doan Thi Huong was captured walking through the airport on CCTV wearing a LOL T-shirt
Shocking pictures show Kim Jong-nam slumped in a chair having been poisoned
Kim Jong-nam (seen above in 2001) died on February 13 and police say a nerve agent was found on his face
The suspects were brought to the isolated courthouse on the outskirts of the capital under heavy security, and bundled into the building through a media scrum.
More than 100 heavily armed police wearing balaclavas and wielding automatic weapons had secured the entrance to the court.
The spectacular killing sparked an international probe and lurid stories of Pyongyang's Cold War-style tradecraft.
Seoul says its isolated neighbor was behind the assassination, and claims the North's agents engaged two outsiders to carry out the murder.
North Korea has not acknowledged the identity of the dead man but has insisted Malaysia hand over the corpse, and says it does not accept the findings of an autopsy.
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