Murder Charge Dropped for Vietnamese Woman in Kim Jong Nam Killing

 

A Malaysian court has withdrawn¹ murder charge against the only suspect still being held for the murder of a member of North Korea’s ruling family.

The Vietnamese woman had faced a murder charge for the killing² of the half-brother of North Korea’s leader at Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13, 2017.

On Monday, Doan Thi Huong pleaded³ guilty to a less serious charge of causing injuring using a dangerous weapon. She is expected to be released⁴ in May.

The decision to drop the murder charge against the Vietnamese woman came three weeks after the court dropped a murder charge against an Indonesian suspect in the case. The Indonesian woman was released soon after.

The two were charged with involvement in killing Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The two women had been the only suspects held after four North Korean suspects fled Malaysia after the killing in 2017.

Oh Ei Sun is a senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. He said the decision not to charge the two women with murder was the end of the case because those responsible for the killing were hiding in North Korea.

Both women said they thought they were involved in a prank⁵ for a TV show. They said they did not know they would be involved in killing anyone.

The two were arrested and accused of placing a powerful poison called VX nerve⁶ agent on Kim Jong Nam’s face.

Kim Jong Nam was the oldest son in the current generation of North Korea’s ruling family. He had been living outside North Korea for several years. Some experts believe he represented a threat to Kim Jong Un’s rule in North Korea.

Lawyers for the women have said they were used to carry out the killing by people with links to the North Korean Embassy⁷ in Kuala Lumpur. They also said government lawyers failed to show the women meant to kill Kim Jong Nam.

Malaysian officials have never officially accused North Korea of involvement.

The women could have faced death sentences if they were found guilty of murder.

Doan Thi Huong nodded in court Monday as the new charge was announced.

Oh said she placed the nerve poison on Kim’s face, although she may not have meant to kill him.

The High Court Judge sentenced her to three years and four months in prison from the day she was arrested on February 15, 2017.

Her lawyer said she is expected to be freed in early May. Her sentence will be reduced by more than 30 percent for good behavior.

“I am happy,” the 30-year-old Vietnamese woman told reporters as she left the courtroom.

The new charge could have led to 10 years in jail⁸. The judge told her he wished her “all the best.”

Vietnamese officials in the courtroom cheered when the decision was announced.

The change follows Malaysia’s decision to drop the murder case against the Indonesian woman on March 11 after requests from Indonesia’s government. Doan Thi Huong asked for the same treatment, but was told ‘no.’

The first charges in the case said that the two women worked with four North Koreans to murder Kim with VX nerve agent as he passed through the airport.

The Vietnamese woman’s lawyer said she was not a “criminal.” He said the four North Koreans were the real killers⁹.

They used her "weakness," he said.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

plea– v.a serious and emotional¹⁰ request for something

prank–n. a trick played on someone as a joke

agent– n. a substance such as a chemical that is used to produce an effect

nod–v. to move your head up and down as a way of answering “yes” or of showing agreement, understanding, or approval (in many cultures)

1 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 pleaded   

恳求，请求( plead的过去式和过去分词 )； 提出…为借口[理由]； （向法庭）陈述案情； （在法庭）申辩，认罪，辩护

参考例句：

• She pleaded with him not to go. 她恳求他不要离开。
• She wept and pleaded until he agreed to do as she wished. 她哭着恳求他，一直到他答应按她的愿望去做。

4 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

5 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

6 nerve   

n.神经；勇气，胆量，沉着，果断

参考例句：

• Did he have the nerve to say that?他竟有脸说这话吗？
• He never got up enough nerve to meet me.他从没有足够的胆量来见我。

7 embassy   

n.大使馆，大使及其随员

参考例句：

• Large crowd demonstrated outside the British Embassy.很多群众在英国大使馆外面示威。
• He's a U.S. diplomat assigned to the embassy in London.他是美国驻伦敦大使馆的一名外交官。

8 jail   

n.监狱，看守所；vt.监禁，拘留

参考例句：

• The castle had been used as a jail.这城堡曾用作监狱。
• If she carries on shoplifting,she'll end up in jail.她如果还在店铺里偷东西，最终会被抓进监狱的。

9 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

10 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。