Siti Aisyah murder charge of Kim Jong Nam withdrawn, but not against Vietnamese - AG must explain?

Prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad told Reuters the decision to withdraw the charge against her was made based on “several representations”, without elaborating.

Indonesia’s law minister, Yasonna H. Laoly, said Siti Aisyah’s release was the result of high-level diplomacy by his government, adding that she would board a flight home later today.

Maybe Attorney General/Public Prosecutor should explain why suddenly the decision to withdraw charges against Indonesian Siti Aisyah...after the court had determined that the prosecution have established a prima facie case against the 2 women charged? 

Why was the charge withdrawn for Siti Aisyah alone, and not for the Vietnamese woman, Doan Thi Huong?   

Personally, in my opinion, they should never have been charged with murder, and there was much flaws in even the charge - how can you charge the 2 woman for murder together with 4 un-named unidentified persons. Read earlier blog posts.

Why charge women over Jong Nam murder, while 4 at large?(FMT News)

MADPET - Name the 4 Unidentified Individuals in the Kim Jong Nam Murder Charge to ensure fair trial for Siti Aisyah and Hong Song Hac

Much happening in Malaysia? VX? or pesticide? Deportation of suspects? No more visa on arrival for ...?

They may not be guilty of murder - but would they not be charged for a lesser charge of assault and/or battery? Now, Siti Aisyah is back in Indonesia - and like Sirul, it will be difficult to get her back to be charged for any crime.

MURDER - well, they may not be guilty of that, but could they not be charged for lesser crimes like assault or battery for what they did, paid for or otherwise?

Was it because of Indonesia wanting her released? Well, we have laws, and if one breaks Malaysian laws, one would be charged, tried and sentenced in Malaysia. Or, can some 'stronger' or 'friendly' country simply request that their citizen be set free, and Malaysia complies. 

Remember, that our constitution guarantees Equality and equal treatment - Article 8(1) Federal Constitution states that, 'All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law'. No special treatment of a citizen of another country.

The Public Prosecutor must really explain why suddenly the charge against Siti Aisyah was dropped, and she was released? Media reports thus far is not very clear.

Why was it done so late, after PH came into power...9 months ago? If this was done earlier, then we would have saved money and court's time?

PLEASE EXPLAIN...people deserve to know? We need to be convinced that there was no 'corruption', 'foreign pressure', etc - but was done according to the law for a GOOD reason.  

Prosecutors drop murder charge against Indonesian suspect in Kim Jong-nam murder

Published 1 day ago on 11 March 2019

Indonesian Siti Aisyah (left), accused in the 2017 killing of Kim Jong-nam, and who was freed by the High Court, attends a news conference at the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur March 11, 2019. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — An Indonesian woman accused in the 2017 killing of the North Korean leader’s half-brother was freed today, as a Malaysian court dropped the murder charge against her in a case that drew suspicions of being a political assassination.

As the court gave its decision, Siti Aisyah, 26, turned to her Vietnamese co-defendant Doan Thi Huong, 30, in the dock and the two women, who had been facing the death penalty together, embraced tearfully.

They stood accused of poisoning Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, with liquid VX, a banned chemical weapon, at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017.

Following the dramatic decision to release Siti Aisyah, a defence lawyer asked for an adjournment in the case against Huong, in order to submit a request that charges be dropped against her too.

Defence lawyers have maintained that the women were pawns in an assassination orchestrated by North Korean agents.

Interpol had issued a red notice for four North Koreans who were identified as suspects by Malaysian police and had left the country hours after the murder.

During the trial, the court was shown CCTV footage of two women allegedly assaulting Kim Jong-nam while he prepared to check-in for a flight at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport.

Siti Aisyah, who had worked as a masseuse at a hotel in the Malaysian capital, and Huong, who described herself as an actress, had maintained that they believed they had been hired to participate in a reality TV prank show.

Once the court released her, Siti Aisyah wearing a black traditional Malay dress and headscarf, was rushed to the Indonesian embassy, where she spoke briefly with journalists.

“I feel so happy. I did not expect that today I would be released,” Siti Aisyah said, adding that she was healthy and had been treated well in prison.

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

While the court discharged Siti Aisyah from the case, it rejected her lawyer’s request for a full acquittal, as it said that the trial had already established a prima facie case and she could be recalled if fresh evidence emerged.

The defence had disputed whether the CCTV footage was clear enough to identify the Indonesian woman as an assailant, or establish what she had done to the victim.

Gooi Soon Seng, Siti Aisyah’s lawyer, expressed happiness with the outcome, but said his client was “a scapegoat”.

“I still believe that North Korea had something to do with it,” Gooi said.

Kim Jong-nam had lived in exile in Macau for several years before the killing, having fled his homeland after his half-brother became North Korea’s leader in 2011 following their father’s death.

Some South Korean lawmakers said the North Korean regime had ordered the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, who had been critical of his family’s dynastic rule. Pyongyang has denied the accusation.

Not over for Huong

Left to stand trial by herself after Siti Aisyah’s release, Huong was still sobbing as she prepared to take the stand today at the start of her defence.

But, the court agreed to resume proceedings on Thursday, pending a reply from the attorney general (AG) to a request that charges against her also be withdrawn.

“The charge against Siti Aiysah was withdrawn, but the charge against Doan (Thi Huong) was not, and no reason was advanced,” Hisyam Teh, Huong’s lawyer, said.

Although they had regularly been brought to the dock together, they were being tried separately in the case.

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

Prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad told Reuters the decision to withdraw the charge against her was made based on “several representations”, without elaborating.

Indonesia’s law minister, Yasonna H. Laoly, said Siti Aisyah’s release was the result of high-level diplomacy by his government, adding that she would board a flight home later today.

Yasonna had earlier written to Malaysia’s AG, laying the blame on North Korea.

“Miss Aisyah was deceived and had no awareness whatsoever that she was being used as an intelligence tool of North Korea,” Yasonna wrote. — Reuters, Malay Mail, 11/3/2019