KUALA LUMPUR – Two tourists from Chile are facing the death penalty in Malaysia for allegedly murdering a man in a hotel for past one year.
Felipe Osiadacz and Fernando Candia are on trial over the killing of a Malaysian in the lobby of the Kuala Lumpur hotel in August last year, less than 24 hours after they arrived in the country on holiday.
The young men have pleaded not guilty. Their lawyer says the duo are innocent and acted in self-defense.
“It was all an accident. A person went into the hotel and demanded money from them,” their lawyer Venkateswari Alagendra told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur High Court after a hearing.
The Malaysian man then attacked the Chileans and they fought back in self-defence, before calling the police but the Malaysian had by then died, she added.
Malaysia has a mandatory death penalty for murder, and if convicted the pair will be hanged.
The trial resumes on September 24.
