Malaysia court frees Indonesian in Kim Jong Nam murder case

KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian court Monday freed an Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother after prosecutors withdrew the murder charge against her.

Siti Aisyah, 26, had been accused alongside Doan Thi Huong, 30, from Vietnam of killing Kim Jong Nam by smearing VX nerve agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017, in a brazen Cold War-style hit that shocked the world.

Prosecutors told the court they had been instructed to withdraw the charge against Siti Aisyah. No reason was given for the application.

"Siti Aisyah is freed," Judge Azmin Ariffin told the Shah Alam High Court, as he approved the request to drop the charge against her.

He granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal. "She can leave now."

After the court decision to release her, Siti Aisyah hugged her co-accused Doan, and cried.

Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Rusdi Kirana told reporters: "We are pleased with the court decision. We will try to fly Siti back to Indonesia today or as soon as possible."

Siti Aisyah had been working as a masseuse in Kuala Lumpur, while Doan described herself as an entertainer.

"We still believe that she was merely a scapegoat," Siti Aisyah's lawyer, Gooi Soon Seng, told reporters.

"I still believe that North Korea had something to do with it."

The trial of Siti Aisyah was suspended in December as her lawyers argued with prosecutors over access to statements made by seven witnesses.

It was a surprise move as the court had been scheduled to hear Huong - who was in court alongside Aisyah - testify on Monday.