SITI AISYAH FREED
Indonesian given discharge not amounting to acquittal
SITI Aisyah, the Indonesian woman charged with the murder of Kim Chol, the name used by Kim Jong-nam, was yesterday given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.
High Court judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin made the decision after the prosecution, led by deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad, withdrew the charge against Siti Aisyah, under Section 254(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Siti Aisyah’s counsel, Gooi Soon Seng, applied to the court to acquit and discharge his client, but Azmi decided to discharge without acquitting Siti Aisyah.
When told the decision, Siti Aisyah burst into tears of joy.
Her co-accused, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, who was also seen crying, turned to Siti Aisyah and hugged her.
On Aug 16 last year, the court had ordered Siti Aisyah and Doan to enter their defence on the charge of murdering Jong-nam, 45. Jong-nam was the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
They were charged with four others at large with the murder of Jong-nam at the departure hall of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 about 9am on Feb 13, 2017, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
After the proceedings, Siti Aisyah was taken to a waiting car, escorted by police and officials from the Indonesian embassy.
Met by reporters later, Gooi said Siti Aisyah was overjoyed by the decision.
“She was crying tears of joy... Anybody who has been in detention for two years like her would react that way. We are grateful to the prosecution team for taking the decision to withdraw the charges against her as we believe that Siti Aisyah was a scapegoat and not guilty (of murder).”
Gooi said Siti Aisyah would return to Jakarta, Indonesia.
Later, Indonesian Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly said efforts were being made to fly Siti Aisyah home as soon as possible.
Speaking at the Indonesian embassy, Yasonna said Siti Aisyah’s release was the result of negotiations between the Malaysian and Indonesian governments since last year.
He said he had sent letters to the Malaysian government, as well as Attorney-General Tommy Thomas about the matter.
“Among the things we highlighted was that Siti Aisyah had thought that she was a part of a reality television show and so had not intended to kill Jong-nam.
“She did not know that she was being made use of by (purported) North Korean intelligence agents. Siti Aisyah did not derive any profit from what she did.”
Siti Aisyah said she had no inkling that she would be released after spending two years in detention here.
“The first thing I want to do is to return home to my family. Thank you to my president, the Indonesian and Malaysian governments for freeing me.”
Proceedings continued in the case against Doan, whose witness statement was read in court.
The statement was made in Vietnamese and translated into English by a court interpreter.
However, after just three paragraphs, Doan’s lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, asked for proceedings to be postponed for his team to make a representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
“The defence would like to ask for a new date to be set for trial to continue to allow us to make a representation for charges against the accused to be dropped on the same grounds as Siti Aisyah. We hope there is no objection from the prosecution.”
There was no objection from the prosecution and the court allowed for the case to be postponed till Thursday.