Nearly three months have passed since North Korean state media said American citizen Jeffrey Edward Fowle would be tried.

In contrast, Kenneth Bae, an American detained in November 2012, was sentenced within just two weeks of the announcement of his trial in April 2013.

North Korea’s criminal code normally requires the prosecution to file a formal indictment within 10 days of the completion of an investigation, with the court then ruling on the case within 25 days.

But with Fowle – and fellow American prisoner Matthew Miller – court cases have taken considerable longer to emerge.

Although Pyongyang declared on June