Doan eyes singing, acting career

SHAH ALAM: Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong hopes to become a singer or actress once she finishes serving out her sentence for murdering Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

She said she could not wait to return home to her family and pursue her dreams.

Dressed in a white cardigan, maroon baju kurung and beige scarf, she thanked members of the media at the Shah Alam High Court here yesterday.

“I am very happy. I want to sing or (do) acting,” she said.

Doan embraced her father, who had attended the court proceedings for the first time.

She kept saying “thank you” as staff members of the Vietnamese embassy and Vietnam Bar Association surrounded her before she was escorted out of the courtroom.

Her lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, in his argument said Doan had been honest, from the time she was arrested, as to why she had come to Malaysia.

“The accused is neither a criminal nor has she the propensity to commit a crime. She also has no previous conviction and is a single mother,” citing her humble background.

Doan’s mother has died, while her 66-year-old father is a war veteran who fought against the Americans during the Vietnam War. He lost a leg in the war and sells vegetables at a market.

Doan is the youngest of five siblings and considered the brightest. She studied accountancy at a private college.

Hisyam said due to her vulnerability, she was manipulated by North Korean nationals, identified as Mr Y and Hanamori.

Doan was sentenced to three years and four months’ jail from her arrest in February 2017. But her legal team said with usual sentence reductions, she would be released next month.

“In the first week of May, she should be going home,” Hisyam said.

The attorney-general had last month rejected a request for Doan’s murder charge to be dropped, a decision that shocked many after the charge against her Indonesian co-defendant, Siti Aisyah, was withdrawn.

Both women denied the murder charge, saying they were tricked by North Korean spies into carrying out the assassination, believing it was a prank for a reality TV show.