Murder of Kim’s kin: Woman suspect freed
SURPRISE DECISION Aisyah was accused of killing Kim Jong Un’s half-brother
SHAH ALAM, MALAYSIA: An Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader’s half-brother was freed on Monday after Malaysian prosecutors dropped a murder charge against her, in a surprise decision that delighted her friends and family.
Siti Aisyah smiled as she was ushered past journalists and into a car outside the court, where she had been on trial for a year and a half alongside a Vietnamese woman for the 2017 murder of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur airport.
“I feel happy. I did not know this will happen. I did not expect it,” said the 27-year-old, who earlier hugged the tearful Vietnamese accused, Doan Thi Huong, in the dock when the news was announced.
The development was a surprise as the court outside Kuala Lumpur had only been due to hear Huong testify on Monday, and the Vietnamese suspect was left in shock that she was not released too.
Indonesian officials mounted a major diplomatic effort to free Aisyah, which included pressure from the president. They released a letter showing the justice minis- ter had written to Malaysia’s attorney general seeking her release, and he agreed last week.
The women had always denied murder, saying they were tricked by North Korean spies into carrying out the Cold War-style hit using VX nerve agent, and believed it was a prank for a reality TV show.
Their lawyers presented them as scapegoats, saying that authorities were unable to catch the real killers. Four North Koreans - formally accused of the murder alongside the women - fled Malaysia shortly after the assassination.
The trial, which began in October 2017, had been due to resume Monday with the defence stage of proceedings after a break of several months.
But at the start of the hearing at Shah Alam high court, prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad requested that the murder charge against Aisyah be withdrawn and that she be given a discharge, without providing a reason.
The judge agreed to a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, and ordered Aisyah’s immediate release. This means Aisyah has not been formally cleared of the charge and could in theory be arrested on suspicion of Kim’s murder again.