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Agence France-Presse


               Vietnam on Tuesday asked Malaysia to free the Vietnamese woman charged with assassinating the North Korean leader’s half-brother in Kuala Lumpur, a day after her Indonesian co-accused was suddenly released.
Vietnamese citizen Doan Thi Huong is on trial for murder in Malaysia for the brazen cold war-style killing of Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of Kim Jong-un in a busy Kuala Lumpur airport in 2017. 

               
Huong was accused alongside Indonesian Siti Aisyah, who was suddenly freed on Monday by a Malaysian court where the women were being tried.
Vietnam’s foreign minister, Pham Binh Minh, called his Malaysian counterpart on Tuesday asking Huong to be released as well, according to state media. 
“(He) asked Malaysia to ensure a fair trial, and to set free Doan Thi Huong,” Voice of Vietnam radio reported on Tuesday after Minh’s call with Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah.

               Indonesian suspect freed after Malaysia drops Kim Jong-nam murder charges
Huong is set to appear in court on Thursday after her lawyers asked the attorney general to withdraw her murder charge. Prosecutors may decide then to tell the court whether the application is successful.
The call from Vietnam’s foreign minister was an unprecedented public request from Hanoi, which generally does not get involved in criminal cases involving its citizens overseas. 
Vietnam provided legal counsel to Huong, but has refrained from publicly lobbying for her release until Tuesday.

               
Siti’s sudden release prompted questions about interference in Malaysia’s justice system, particularly after the Indonesian government revealed that it had lobbied Kuala Lumpur on the case. 
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday the decision was in line with “the rule of law”.
Huong and Siti have consistently denied the murder charge and have said they were tricked into carrying out the killing using a toxic nerve agent for what they thought was a prank. 

               Kim Jong-nam’s accused killers: North Korean puppets or cold-blooded murderers?
The women’s lawyers say the real killers are four North Koreans – formally accused of the crime alongside the women – who fled Malaysia soon after the assassination.

               South Korea accuses the North of plotting the murder of Kim, an estranged relative of Kim Jong-un who was once seen as heir apparent to the North Korean leadership. Pyongyang denies the accusation.


Kim Jong-un’s purges exacerbate climate of fear, tensions in North Korea, peninsula

North Korea: will family violence continue plaguing Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae and nephew Han-sol?

US still prepared to engage with North Korea after missile test, White House says

As North Korea plots revenge over ‘spy’ extradited to US from Malaysia, assassinations and abductions may be next

Kim Jong-nam

Kim Jong-nam murder trial: Vietnam asks Malaysia to free assassination suspect Doan Thi Huong

Vietnamese murder suspect Doan Thi Huong. Photo: EPA

Siti Aisyah (L) from Indonesia smiles beside her lawyer in Kuala Lumpur on March 11, 2019, following her release from detention. The case against Aisyah, one of two women being charged with the February 2017 murder of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was dropped earlier in the day while Vietnamese national Doan Thi Huong remains on trial. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A man believed to be Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, looks at a battery of photographers as he gets off a police van to get on board an airplane heading to Beijing at Narita International Airport, northeast of Tokyo, Friday, May 4, 2001. He was deported to China after being detained for allegedly entering Japan with a forged passport. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Kim Jong-nam murder trial: Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah freed after Malaysian authorities drop murder charges

Indonesian Siti Aisyah, third from left, poses for a photo with officials from Indonesian Embassy after a press conference at the embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, March 11, 2019. The Indonesian woman held two years on suspicion of killing North Korean leader's half brother Kim Jong Nam was freed from custody Monday after prosecutors unexpectedly dropped the murder charge against her. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

FILE - In this May 4, 2001 file photo, Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, prepares to board a plane to Beijing at Narita international airport near Tokyo, Japan. Kim was fatally poisoned at Kuala Lumpur's airport on Feb. 13, 2017, in one of the most brazen instances of assassination in recent memory in an attack that authorities said used VX nerve agent. Strong suspicion has fallen on North Korean agents. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File)

epaselect epa07428210 Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong (C) who was detained in connection with the death of Kim Jong-Nam, is escorted by Malaysian police officers as they leave the Shah Alam High Court, Shah Alam, Malaysia, 11 March 2019. Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam charged with murder under Section 302 of the penal code, which carries mandatory death sentence if found guilty, pleaded not guilty during the murder trial. EPA-EFE/FAZRY ISMAIL

Indonesian Siti Aisyah, left, smiles with her lawyer Gooi Soon Seng after a press conference at Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, March 11, 2019. The Indonesian woman held two years on suspicion of killing North Korean leader's half brother Kim Jong Nam was freed from custody Monday, March 11, 2019 after prosecutors unexpectedly dropped the murder charge against her. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Indonesian national Siti Aisyah (C) smiles while leaving the Shah Alam High Court, outside Kuala Lumpur on March 11, 2019 after her trial for her alleged role in the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. - An Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader's half-brother was to be freed March 11 after a prosecutor withdrew a murder charge against her, a judge said. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)

Indonesian national Siti Aisyah smiles as she leaves the Shah Alam High Court. Photo: AFP

Kim Jong-nam murder trial adjourned again until March

Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, was fatally poisoned at Kuala Lumpur's airport in February 2017. Photo: AP

Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, who is on trial for the killing of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader, is escorted as she leaves the Shah Alam High Court on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 16, 2018. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin

Indonesian Siti Aisyah, center, escorted by police, leaves Shah Alam High Court after a court hearing in Shah Alam, Malaysia on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. Siti and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, charged with murdering North Korea leader's half brother Kim Jong Nam, were back in Malaysia court for a procedural hearing. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Kim Jong-nam’s accused killers: North Korean puppets or cold-blooded murderers?

Kim Jong-nam in Macau in 2007. Picture: AFP

The women on trial for killing Kim Jong-un’s half brother – their lives, lost hopes and how they were lured into the plot

A still image from a CCTV footage appears to show a man purported to be Kim Jong Nam (circled in red) talking to airport staff, after being accosted by a woman in a white shirt, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia on February 13, 2017. FUJITV/via Reuters TV. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS VIDEO WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. THE FOOTAGE WAS OBTAINED BY FUJI TV. DO NOT CROP OR OBSCURE FUJITV LOGO. ANY VOICED PACKAGES USING THIS MATERIAL MUST ATTRIBUTE IT VERBALLY TO FUJI TV. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS VIDEO. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. CANNOT RE-USE AFTER 30 DAYS FROM TRANSMISSION WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM FUJITV. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN.

A view of the neighbourhood where Indonesian woman Siti Aishah, a suspect in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, used to live in Tambora district in Jakarta, Indonesia, February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Fatima El-Kareem FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

epaselect epa05821895 Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, (2-R, in yellow shirt), who was detained in connection with the death of Kim Jong-Nam, arrives at the Sepang Court Complex, in Sepang, Malaysia, 01 March 2017. A man named Kim Chol, an alias used by Kim Jong-nam, a half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was killed at a Kuala Lumpur airport on 13 February 2017, after two women reportedly sprayed him with a highly toxic chemical weapon known as the VX nerve agent, Malaysian police said on 24 February. The two women, Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam and Siti Aisyah from Indonesia, have been charged with murder under Section 302 of the penal code, which carries mandatory death sentence if found guilty, media said quoting the attorney general. Authorities are seeking arrest for a senior official at the North Korean Embassy in connection to the case. EPA/FAZRY ISMAIL

Doan Thi Huong (left) and Siti Aisyah.

***ONE TIME USE ONLY*** One of the suspected assassin is spotted on CCTV

Kim Jong-nam (R), the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, sits beside his father in this file photo thought to be taken around 1981. A man believed to be Kim Jong-nam was detained at Tokyo's Narita airport this week after trying to enter Japan illegally. At rear is is Sung Hae-rang (L), the sister of Kim Jong-nam's mother, and her two children, neither of whom are named. REUTERS/JoongAng Ilbo/Handout NO ARCHIVES, NO RESALES

This combo of handout pictures released by the Royal Malaysian Police in Kuala Lumpur on February 22, 2017 shows location image or CCTV footage (top row) and passport style photos (bottom row) of North Korean nationals (from L to R) 30-year-old Ri Ji U, 37-year-old North Korean airline employee Kim Uk Il, and 44-year-old diplomat Hyon Kwang Song, wanted for police questioning in connection to the February 13 assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Detectives probing the assassination of Kim Jong-Un's half-brother want to question a North Korean diplomat, Malaysia's top policeman said February 22. Investigators have put five North Koreans in the frame for last week's brazen killing of Kim Jong-Nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and have said they are seeking three more for questioning. / AFP PHOTO / Royal Malaysian Police / Handout / -----EDITORS NOTE --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Royal Malaysian Police

Benah (50) mother of Siti Aisyah (25) captured the Malaysian police for alleged involvement in the murder of Kim Jong-nam, a half sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, sat down and hold the photo waiting certainty of legal proceedings son at home, Serang, Banten, On February 20, 2017. the family believes that siti aisyah not involved in the killing. Siti arrested in connection with the murder of Kim Jong-Nam on Monday, February 13, 2017 morning at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Malaysian police call Siti CCTV camera recorded the scene Dasril Roszandi (Photo by Dasril Roszandi/NurPhoto)

Indonesian Siti Aisyah, center, is escorted by police as she leaves after the court hearing at Shah Alam court house in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, accused of fatally poisoning Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korea's ruler pleaded not guilty as their trial began Monday in Malaysia's High Court, nearly eight months after the brazen airport assassination that sparked a diplomatic standoff. (AP Photo/Daniel Chan)

Kim Jong-Nam dressed in an army uniform poses with his maternal grandmother in January 1975 in an unknown place. Kim Jong-Nam is believed to be the eldest son of reclusive North Jorean leader Kim Jong-Il. AFP PHOTO / AFP PHOTO

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2007, file photo, a man believed to be Kim Jong Nam, eldest son of then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, is surrounded by the media upon arrival from Macau at Beijing airport in Beijing. Malaysian officials say a North Korean man has died after suddenly becoming ill at Kuala Lumpur's airport. The district police chief said Tuesday Feb. 14, 2017 he could not confirm South Korean media reports that the man was Kim Jong Nam, the older brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.﻿﻿ (Kyodo News via AP, File)

Postmag March 4, 2018 Kim Jong-nam assasination story Edited photo** This combo shows a file picture (L) taken on June 4, 2010 of Kim Jong-Nam, the eldest son of then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il in the southern Chinese city of Macau; an undated file picture (C) received from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on April 18, 2009 of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il waving during a visit to the Huichon power station under construction in the North Korean city of Huichon, Chagang province; and a file photo taken on May 10, 2016 of current North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un waving from a balcony of the Grand People's Study House following a mass parade marking the end of the 7th Workers Party Congress in Kim Il-Sung Square in Pyongyang. Malaysian police probing the killing of the half-brother of North Korea's leader on February 16, 2017 arrested a second woman over the spy novel-style assassination Seoul said was carried out by Pyongyang agents. The two women were arrested sep

North Korean ambassador Malaysia

Gooi Soon Seng, the lawyer for Indonesian national Siti Aisyah, 25, speaks to journalists after a pre-trial procedure for the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un outside the Kajang Prison Complex in Kajang on June 16, 2017. Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, have been charged with the murder of Kim Jong-Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February. / AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN

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The woman’s co-defendant, Indonesian national Siti Aisyah, was released on Monday following extensive lobbying from her country’s government


The woman’s co-defendant, Indonesian national Siti Aisyah, was released on Monday following extensive lobbying from her country’s government.
