Omer Faruk Yildiz
March 11, 2019•Update: March 11, 2019
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
A court in Malaysia freed Monday an Indonesian national accused of killing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's step-brother after prosecutors dropped charges against her, according to Malaysian media reports.
The 27-year-old woman, Siti Aisyah, has been behind bars for two years on charges of poisoning Kim Jong-Nam at Kuala Lumpur's airport on Feb. 13, 2017, with the toxic nerve agent VX, an internationally-prohibited chemical weapon.
The other suspect in the murder case, Vietnamese national Doan Thi Huong (30), remained in prison and she is expected to appear in court on Thursday.
Indonesia's Embassy in Kuala Lumpur expressed gratitude for the decision.
Aisyah and Huong were arrested after security cameras in the airport showed the two women smearing the toxic agent on Kim's face.
In her defense, Aisyah said that some people -- who she thinks were Korean or Japanese -- paid $90 for a "prank" to be aired in a TV show.
Unlike Huong, forensic investigators found no trace of the toxic chemical in Siti's fingernails and she showed no poisoning symptoms.
* Writing by Ali Murat Alhas
