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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/01/kim-jong-nam-trial-malaysia-prosecutors-lower-charge-trial-doan-thi-huong
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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Kim Jong-nam trial: last suspect pleads guilty to lesser charge of 'causing hurt' | Kim Jong-nam trial: last suspect pleads guilty to lesser charge of 'causing hurt' |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| A Vietnamese woman suspected of assassinating the North Korean leader’s half-brother accepted a lesser charge of “causing hurt by a dangerous weapon” on Monday and looks set to be released soon. | A Vietnamese woman suspected of assassinating the North Korean leader’s half-brother accepted a lesser charge of “causing hurt by a dangerous weapon” on Monday and looks set to be released soon. |
| Doan Thi Huong smiled and said “I’m happy” after prosecutors presented the new charge in a Malaysian court. She has been on trial since 2017 for the murder of Kim Jong Nam with a nerve agent in a Cold War-style hit that shocked the world. | |
| It came after authorities last month rejected a request for her murder charge to be dropped entirely – a surprise decision after the attorney-general agreed to withdraw the charge against her Indonesian co-defendant, Siti Aisyah. | |
| Kim Jong-nam death: suspect Siti Aisyah released after charge dropped | Kim Jong-nam death: suspect Siti Aisyah released after charge dropped |
| Both women had always denied murder, saying they believed they were participating in a prank for a reality TV show and had been tricked by North Korean spies. | |
| The prosecutor Iskandar Ahmad told the court on Monday that he had received instructions from the attorney general to offer a lower “alternative charge” to Doan. | The prosecutor Iskandar Ahmad told the court on Monday that he had received instructions from the attorney general to offer a lower “alternative charge” to Doan. |
| Doan pleaded guilty to a new charge of “purposely causing injury” by employing “dangerous means”, which carries a maximum of 10 years in jail. The original murder charge carried a mandatory death penalty. | |
| Doan’s lawyer Salim Bashir said she would probably receive a sentence lighter than the maximum 10 years, saying: it is “very likely she could walk out free today”. | |
| Doan is asking for leniency. Her lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik told the court that her plea showed Doan “has taken responsibility” for her actions and that the plea also saved judicial time. | |
| The plea brings means that no one is facing murder charges for the killing of Kim Jong Nam, a crime the prosecutor likened to something from a James Bond film. | |
| Kim Jong Nam was killed with VX nerve agent at the Kuala Lumpur airport in 2017. The women were accused of smearing the toxic nerve agent on his face as he waited to board a flight to Macau. He died within 20 minutes. | Kim Jong Nam was killed with VX nerve agent at the Kuala Lumpur airport in 2017. The women were accused of smearing the toxic nerve agent on his face as he waited to board a flight to Macau. He died within 20 minutes. |
| Both Siti and Doan claimed they had unknowingly been tricked into carrying out the attack by North Korean operatives, who told them they were playing a prank for a Japanese comedy show. They both claim they thought they were smearing lotion on Kim Jong-nam’s face. The four North Koreans, who the women say were the masterminds of the operation, fled Malaysia in the hours after the crime. | |
| South Korea accuses the North of ordering the hit, a claim vehemently denied by Pyongyang. | |
| In Doan’s home province of Nam Dinh, her step mother Nguyen Thi Vy said: “I just hope she will be released... She has always been a nice girl.” | |
| There were dramatic scenes when Huong’s initial bid for immediate release was rejected last month, with Doan sobbing in the dock and having to be assisted from the room by police officers. | |
| Vietnam reacted angrily to the decision, and started stepping up pressure on Malaysia to free her. | |
| The Indonesian government has claimed that the release of Doan’s co-accused Siti Aisyah in March – in a shock decision that delighted her friends and family – was due to its continual high-level lobbying. | |
| Jokowi, who is facing an election next month, met the Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir, last July to address Siti’s case. | Jokowi, who is facing an election next month, met the Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir, last July to address Siti’s case. |
| Counsel for Doan told the court that she had not slept for the three nights following the decision by the Malaysian attorney general to drop the charges against Siti. | Counsel for Doan told the court that she had not slept for the three nights following the decision by the Malaysian attorney general to drop the charges against Siti. |
| Malaysia | Malaysia |
| North Korea | North Korea |
| Kim Jong-un | Kim Jong-un |
| Asia Pacific | Asia Pacific |
| Vietnam | Vietnam |
| news | news |
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