Malaysian court frees suspect in Kim Jong-nam murder case
While the Indonesian masseuse is off the hook for the suspected political assassination, her fellow defendant has to stand trial by herself
Kuala Lumpur — An Indonesian woman accused in the 2017 killing of the North Korean leader’s half-brother was freed on Monday, as a Malaysian court dropped the murder charge against her in a case that drew suspicions of being a political assassination. As the court gave its decision, Siti Aisyah, 26, turned to her Vietnamese co-defendant Doan Thi Huong, 30, in the dock and the two women, who had been facing the death penalty together, embraced tearfully. They stood accused of poisoning Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, with liquid VX, a banned chemical weapon, at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017. Following the dramatic decision to release Siti Aisyah, a defence lawyer asked for an adjournment in the case against Huong to submit a request that charges be dropped against her too. Defence lawyers have maintained that the women were pawns in an assassination orchestrated by North Korean agents. Interpol had issued a red notice for four North Koreans ...
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