Malaysia Court frees Indonesian Siti Aisyah in Kim Jong Nam murder case
Shah Alam (Malaysia): An Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader's half-brother was freed Monday after Malaysian prosecutors dropped a murder charge against her, in a shock decision a year and a half after she went on trial.
Siti Aisyah smiled as she was ushered through a pack of journalists and into a car outside the court, where she had been on trial alongside a Vietnamese woman for the murder of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017.
"I feel happy. I did not know this will happen. I did not expect it," said Aisyah, who was wearing a red headscarf.
It was a surprise move as the Shah Alam High Court, outside Kuala Lumpur, had been due only to hear Huong's testimony on Monday. Her lawyers said they were seeking an adjournment.
The women, in their 20s, had always denied murder, saying they believed they were taking part in a prank and were tricked by North Korean agents into carrying out the Cold War-style hit using VX nerve agent.
Their lawyers had presented them as scapegoats, saying that authorities were unable to catch the real killers. Four North Koreans - formally accused of the murder alongside the women - fled Malaysia shortly after the murder.
The trial, which began in October 2017, was due to resume Monday with the defence stage of proceedings after a break of several months.
But at the start of the hearing, prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad requested that the murder charge against Aisyah be withdrawn and that she be given a discharge.
He gave no reason for the request.
"Siti Aisyah is freed," judge Azmin Ariffin told the court, as he approved a request. "She can leave now." Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Rusdi Kirana told reporters outside court: "We are pleased with the court decision.
We will try to fly Siti back to Indonesia today or as soon as possible."
Prosecutors had presented their case in the first stage of the trial. Witnesses described how the victim - the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong Un and once seen as heir apparent to the North Korean leadership - died in agony shortly after being attacked.
In August, a judge ruled there was sufficient evidence the suspects had engaged in a "well-planned conspiracy" with the four North Koreans to murder Kim, and ordered that the trial continue to the defence stage.
South Korea has accused the North of ordering the hit, which Pyongyang denies.
A murder conviction carries a mandatory penalty of death in Malaysia.
The government has vowed to abolish capital punishment for all crimes, although parliament still needs to vote on changing the law.
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Online fraud: Hotel chef from Udupi cheated of over Rs 1 lakh by WhatsApp contact
Udupi: Udupi City Police have registered a case of online fraud after a 62-year-old hotel chef was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.13 lakh by a woman who befriended him on WhatsApp, claiming to be based in London.
The victim, identified as Pandu Kariappa Poojary, a resident of Kuthpadi in Udupi, was working at a hotel in Mangaluru.
He reportedly came into contact with a woman identifying herself as Emilda William on WhatsApp. During their interactions, she told Poojary that she planned to start a cosmetics and hotel business in India and would meet him during a visit to Mangaluru.
On April 7, Emilda sent Poojary a flight ticket from London to Delhi via WhatsApp. The following day, Poojary received a phone call from a woman who informed him that Emilda had arrived at Delhi airport carrying a demand draft worth Rs 5 crore along with other items. The caller allegedly asked him to pay Rs 70,000.
Subsequently, Poojary also received a call from Emilda, who was reportedly crying and spoke about the situation. Believing the claims, he transferred a total of Rs 1,13,300 in phases using a scanner. He later realised that he had been cheated.
