KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: The two women who are the only suspects arrested in the assassination of an outcast from North Korea’s ruling family have appeared in court in Malaysia.
Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam and Siti Aisyah from Indonesia arrived with armed escorts early Tuesday.
The women are accused of smearing VX nerve agent on Kim Jong Nam’s face at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13. The half brother of North Korea’s current leader, Kim died soon afterward. Police have said four North Korean suspects fled the country that day.
The women have said they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank for a hidden-camera show. Defense lawyers previously expressed fear the women will be scapegoats because other people believed to have knowledge of the case left the country.
Suspects in Kim Jong Nam murder appear in Malaysia court
Suspects in Kim Jong Nam murder appear in Malaysia court
UK police arrest former ambassador Peter Mandelson in probe into Epstein ties
- Former UK ambassador to the US arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office
LONDON: British police on Monday arrested Peter Mandelson, a former UK ambassador to the United States, in a misconduct probe stemming from his ties with Jeffrey Epstein.
London’s Metropolitan Police force said “officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office” at an address in north London.
It did not name Mandelson, in keeping with British police practice, but the suspect in the case has previously been identified as Mandelson.
Police are investigating Mandelson over documents suggesting he passed sensitive government information to Epstein a decade and a half ago. He does not face any allegations of sexual misconduct.
His arrest comes four days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew, was arrested on suspicion of a similar offense related to his friendship with Epstein.
Mandelson was fired from his diplomatic post in September after emails were published showing that he maintained a friendship with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor. When more details emerged in documents released by the US Justice Department last month, police opened a criminal probe.
