Vietnamese national Doan Thi Huong, the only defendant of the murder case of a North Korean citizen said to be Kim Jong Nam - half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un - pleaded guilty to a lesser charge on April 1, escaping the death sentence. 
Doan Thi Huong at the trial on April 1. Photo: AP
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Huong, 30, would have faced the death penalty if found guilty of the murder.
Huong’s lawyer Hisyam Teh said that she could be released by May 4 as Malaysia allows one-third remission off all prison sentences, according to Reuters.
He noted that Huong’s acceptance of the sentence showed her responsibilities for her activities, AP reported.
Reuters cited him as saying that Huong had been “naive and gullible” but she was not a criminal. Some of the North Korean suspects in the case “exploited her weaknesses... to carry out their evil design.”
According to BBC, the judge’s decision comes after Huong’s Indonesian co-defendant Siti Aisyah unexpectedly walked free last month.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that prosecutors said at the court that they changed charges against Huong after considering complaints lodged by the Vietnamese embassy in Kuala Lumpur and her lawyer.
Voices from insiders
Huong told reporters after the court that she was very happy and thankful to all people, the government of Vietnam, Vietnamese lawyers, Malaysia, the judges, and communities, according to foreign media.
She said that she wanted to sing and act.
Before her arrest, Huong was working at an entertainment outlet, Malaysian police have said.
Meanwhile, her stepmother Nguyen Thi Vy was relieved and delighted, saying the family was most worried about the death penalty.
Her father Doan Van Thach, who participated at the court on Monday, was happy when receiving congratulations from foreign reporters after the court closed.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Le Quy Quynh was quoted by the Tuoi Tre newspaper as saying “I’m grateful for Huong’s early release but I want to note that Huong is a victim (of the case) like Indonesian Siti Aisyah.”
After the Malaysian court delivering the sentence, Spokeswoman of Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement “The government of Vietnam, the MOFA, related agencies, and the Vietnam Bar Federation have taken all measures to protect Doan Thi Huong’s legitimate rights to ensure the trials would be fair and she would be soon released.”
In a press release, the MOFA said that it has asked the Vietnamese embassy in Kuala Lumpur to cooperate with the Vietnam Bar Federation to do by all means to bring Huong home in safety.
The case
Kim Jong Nam was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February 2017 by toxic nerve agent VX.
Both women had insisted they were innocent. They said they were tricked into carrying out the killing – which involved smearing a lethal nerve agent on the victim’s face – and believed they were part of a reality TV prank.
North Korea has fiercely denied any involvement in the killing, but four men – believed to be North Koreans who fled Malaysia on the day of the murder – have also been charged in the case.
