A Vietnamese woman who was accused of killing Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was released by an apex court of Malaysia on Friday.
According to ANI news reports, Doan Thi Huong was released from a Malaysian jail on today morning, convict’s lawyer stated. She was expected to return back to her homeland in the day, CNN reported.
Along with an Indonesian woman named Siti Aisyah, Huong was charged with the killing of Kim’s estranged half brother in February 2017. While Siti was released from a Malaysian prison on March 11 after prosecutors withdrew the murder charges unexpectedly against her, Huong remained in jail until today.
A month after Siti was released, Huong pleaded guilty for a smaller charge related to “causing hurt by a dangerous weapon”. Huong was also ordered with three years and four months prison sentence, but then was given credit for the time she served, as well as, customary sentence reductions.
Vietnam has been pushing for Huong’s release, with her saying she was tricked into taking part and believed she was part of a TV prank. Her lawyer has said that Huong has not been able to sleep since the unexpected release of Siti. Huong has been on trial since last one and a half year.
Kim’s brother Nam was assassinated with a liquid VX nerve agent in February 2017 at Kuala Lumpur airport.