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Malaysia court frees woman in North Korea murder case
SHAH ALAM, Malaysia, March 11, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – An Indonesian woman accused
of assassinating the North Korean leader’s half-brother was freed Monday
after Malaysian prosecutors dropped a murder charge against her, in a shock
decision that delighted her friends and family.
Siti Aisyah smiled as she was ushered 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 her tearful Vietnamese co-accused, Doan
Thi Huong, in the dock when the news was announced.
Indonesian officials mounted a major diplomatic effort to free Aisyah,
which included pressure from the president. The Indonesian justice minister
had written to Malaysia’s attorney general seeking her release, citing
problems with the case, 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withdrawn and she be given a discharge, without providing a reason.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 re-arrested.
The news was a surprise as the court had only been scheduled to hear Huong
testify Monday, and the Vietnamese woman was left in shock that she was not
released alongside Aisyah.
“I do not know what will happen to me now. I am innocent — please pray for
me,” the 30-year-old said. Her testimony was adjourned Monday as her lawyers
said they would also apply to get the charge against her dropped.
– Homecoming party –
Aisyah arrived later Monday in Jakarta, where she was reunited with
parents. In her hometown of Sindangsari on Java island, there was shock and
delight as word spread of her release.
“We’ve heard the news and we’re so happy. We’re getting a celebration
ready!” her aunt Darmi, who goes by one name, told AFP.
Indonesia often makes concerted diplomatic efforts to free its citizens
detained overseas, particularly those who may face the death penalty.
Speaking at the Indonesian embassy in Malaysia, Indonesian Justice Minister
Yasonna Laoly reeled off a list of figures in government — from President
Joko Widodo to the foreign minister — who had pushed for Aisyah’s release.
A murder conviction carries a mandatory penalty of death by hanging in
Malaysia. The government vowed last year to abolish capital punishment but
has yet to amend the law.
There does not appear to have been any such aggressive lobbying effort from
Vietnam for Huong, however.
Vietnam generally does not get publicly involved in individual criminal
cases overseas, and foreign affairs officials did not respond to AFP’s
request for comment Monday.
In the first stage of the trial that ran until August last year,
prosecutors presented their case.
Witnesses described how the victim — the estranged half-brother of Kim
Jong Un and once seen as heir apparent to the North Korean leadership — died
in agony shortly after being attacked.
Prosecutors said Aisyah and Huong were well-trained assassins but their
lawyers argued the four North Koreans were the masterminds, and provided them
with poison on the day of the murder.
South Korea has accused the North of ordering the hit, which Pyongyang
denies.
Malaysia had been one of the nuclear-armed North’s few allies but the
assassination badly damaged ties, and led to the countries expelling each
other’s ambassadors.
BSS/AFP/RY/1918 hrs