By Ainur Rohmah
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia
When his daughter left to find a better life in Malaysia, Nur Hasan expected her to find work to support her family in Java.
However, Siti Aisyah now finds herself at the center of an international plot in which she is accused of assassinating the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Aisyah, 25, and a Vietnamese woman, Doan Thi Huong, 28, are accused of killing Kim Jong Nam by smothering his face with the deadly VX nerve agent at Kuala International Airport on Feb. 13.
The women, who are currently on trial in Malaysia, where they face the death penalty if convicted, have denied planning to kill Kim and said they were duped into believing they were taking part in a reality TV prank.
“She must have been manipulated by other people,” Hasan told Anadolu Agency from his home in the Indonesian village of Rancasumur, near Serang.
“I want her to be freed and immediately return to Indonesia. This incident has made the whole family sad. We do not know what to do but pray.”
Hasan, a 56-year-old broom seller, said Aisyah went to work in Jakarta after finishing school in 2007.
She worked in a garment company and a year later married the factory owner’s son, with whom she had a child.
In 2011, Aisyah and her husband left for Malaysia but were divorced a year later.
Indonesian support
Indonesian immigration officials have said Aisyah last entered Malaysia on Feb. 2, taking a ferry from Batam, an Indonesian island to the south of Singapore. She was not officially registered as a migrant worker, they added.
Malaysian authorities have said the women were recruited by North Korean agents to kill Kim. North Korea denies involvement.
The women’s trial is due to end next month after hearing from up to 40 witnesses.
Aisyah has received support from Malaysian lawyers, including senior prosecutors, during the case, according to Indonesian Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo.
“We have sent some senior prosecutors to give input to advocates from Malaysia," Prasetyo said at a meeting of lawmakers in Jakarta on Wednesday, news portal Kompas.com reported.
The Malaysian legal team has focused on Aisyah’s lack of motive for killing Kim.
Migrant Care, a Jakarta-based organization for migrant rights, said Aisyah had been framed by an international crime syndicate.
“She has no motivation to commit murder,” Executive Director Anis Hidayah said.
Hidayah said female migrant workers had often been unwittingly used to carry out crimes overseas, mostly in murder or drug smuggling cases.
Only defendants
At least 158 workers face the death penalty in Malaysia -- 108 in cases involving narcotics -- according to Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry.
Aisyah and Doan now find themselves the only defendants on trial for the Kim killing, a crime that Hidayah said could not have been initiated by the women.
“Because of improving diplomatic relations between Malaysia and North Korea, no thorough investigation has led to the mastermind of this crime,” she said.
“Siti Aisyah and her friend are criminalized.”
The National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers told Anadolu Agency that women migrants were often lured into crime through promises of work or marriage.
“They are usually poor of education and are easily influenced. It sounds naive, but in it's the case,” Chief Secretary Hermono, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name, said.
Meanwhile, in Rancasumur, Aisyah’s family are hoping and praying for their daughter’s return.
“Everyone is praying for her,” Hasan told The Weekend Australian newspaper last week.
“Everyone is waiting for the outcome of her trial. I’m sure they will acquit her. I’m sure God will not forsake my sweet, innocent daughter.”
