An Indonesian woman held in Malaysia since 2017 on suspicions of assassinating the North Korean leader’s half-brother was released from detention Monday.
The Shah Alam High Court, outside Kuala Lumpur, discharged Siti Aisyah without an acquittal after Malaysian prosecutors withdraw the murder charge without giving a reason.
As she heard the court announcement, Aisyah, 26, hugged her co-defendant Doan Thi Huong, a 30-year-old Vietnamese woman, and cried.
Immediately after, she was rushed to an elevator and escorted to an Indonesian embassy car waiting outside the courthouse. Her lawyers said she is expected to fly to Jakarta soon.
Indonesian Ambassador Rusdi Kirana thanked the Malaysian government for Aisyah’s release and said: “We believe she is not guilty.”
Meanwhile, the trial of Huong was put on hold. The court had scheduled to hear Huong’s defense on Monday after months of delay.
The two women were accused of smearing VX liquid nerve agent on Kim Yong Nam’s face in an airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur on February 13, 2017.
They were the only suspects in custody after four North Korean suspects fled the country the same morning Kim was killed.
Lawyers for the women has said they were pawns in a political assassination in which the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur was involved.
Aisyah had been working as a masseuse in Kuala Lumpur, while Doan was an entertainer.
Kim Jong Nam was the eldest son of North Korea’s ruling family. He had been living abroad for years but could have been considered a threat to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s rule.
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