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MALAYSIA-NKOREA-TRIAL-CRIME
Malaysia court frees Indonesian in Kim Jong Nam murder case
SHAH ALAM, Malaysia, March 11, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A Malaysian court Monday
freed an Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un’s half-brother after prosecutors withdrew the murder charge
against her.
Siti Aisyah had been accused alongside Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam of
killing Kim Jong Nam by smearing VX nerve agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur
airport in February 2017, in a brazen Cold War-style hit that shocked the
world.
“Siti Aisyah is freed,” judge Azmin Ariffin told the Shah Alam High Court,
as he approved a request from the prosecutor to drop the murder charge. He
granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.
“She can leave now.”
In his request to withdraw the charge, prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad
did not give a reason for the move in court. He said Aisyah was free to leave
the country.
Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Rusdi Kirana told reporters: “We are
pleased with the court decision. We will try to fly Siti back to Indonesia
today or as soon as possible.”
It was a surprise move as the court had been scheduled to hear Huong —
who was in court alongside Aisyah — testify on Monday.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0950 hrs