Surprising turn in the murder case Kim Jong-nam: For two years, an Indonesian woman was detained on suspicion of being involved in the murder of the half-brother of North Korea’s ruler. Now she was released – her alleged accomplice from Vietnam not yet.
In the case of the killing of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, an Indonesian suspect has surprisingly been released after around two years in prison. A Supreme Court judge in Shah Alam City, Malaysia dropped the case against 27-year-old Siti Aisyah on Monday after prosecutors withdrew the allegations without giving any reason. The Indonesian was not formally acquitted.
She was quickly led out of the courtroom and put into a waiting car. Aisyah seemed relaxed. She had learned only in the morning that she was released. „I’m surprised and very happy,“ said Aisyah. According to her lawyers, she was to be taken to the Indonesian embassy and then soon to be flown out to Jakarta. Indonesia’s Ambassador Rusdi Kirana thanked the Malaysian government. „We believe she is not guilty,“ he explained.
According to Jakarta, the release was based on stubborn intercession at the highest level. Aisyah’s fate had been raised at every bilateral Malaysian-Indonesian meeting, including at the presidential level, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. The Prosecutor General of Malaysia then claimed his authority under criminal law in order to bring an end to the case against Aisyah.
At a stroke as in „Hidden Camera“ believed
Kim Jong-nam was rubbed in the face and eyes of the neurotoxin VX on February 13, 2017 in an airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. He died two hours later. Next to Aisyah, the young Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong was accused of shedding the poison on Kim’s face.
Their families claim they were deceived and never wanted to kill the 45-year-old. The women said at the time that they believed that they were participating in a TV-show prank in the style of Hidden Camera. VX is classified as a weapon of mass destruction.
The Indonesian Foreign Ministry also denied Aisyah’s intention to murder. She was „deceived and did not realize at all that she had been manipulated by North Korean intelligence.“
Case against Vietnamese is on ice
Indonesia’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Rusdi Kirana, was satisfied with the decision. Siti Aisyah should now be brought back to her home as soon as possible. In court, prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad said there are no reasons why the allegations of murder against the woman are being withdrawn.
The women’s advocates have always argued that their clients were pawns in a political plot with ties to the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. The prosecutors could not have clearly demonstrated intent to murder. This fact is decisive for a murder charge under Malaysian law.
The murder case against the Vietnamese is now after the latest turn on ice. After months of delay, she should have presented her defense line at the Monday hearing. Her lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said they would now seek a postponement of the case. His client is disturbed and find the discharge of Aisyah unfair to her. By 2018, the judge had decided that the evidence against the women would suffice to continue the murder trial.
The case had weighed heavily on relations between Malaysia and North Korea. It is believed that the North Korean secret service is behind the attack. The Vietnamese woman must continue to answer in court. If convicted, you face the death penalty.
Malaysian officials have not yet lodged an official complaint with North Korea in the case of Kim Jong-nam. Rather, they have stressed that they do not want to politicize the process.
