Shah Alam: A Malaysian judge has sentenced a Vietnamese woman to more than three years in prison after she pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in the killing of the North Korean leader's estranged half brother.

Judge Azmi Ariffin said, "It is my view that the length of imprisonment would serve the interest of justice." He told Doan Thi Huong she was "very very lucky" and he wished her "all the best".

Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong is escorted by police as she leaves Shah Alam High Court in Shah Alam, Malaysia.Credit:AP

Huong stood up in the dock and through her translator, thanked the judge, prosecutors and the Malaysian and Vietnamese governments. She told reporters before leaving the courtroom she was happy and hopes to be a singer and actress when she returns to Vietnam.

Huong's lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said she is expected to be freed by the first week of May, after one third reduction for good behaviour.

She is the lone suspect in custody in Kim Jong-nam's death from VX nerve agent in 2017.

Prosecutor Iskandar Ahmad earlier told the court he had received instruction from the attorney-general to offer a lower "alternative charge" to Doan Thi Huong.

The attorney-general’s’ stunning decision to drop the case against Indonesian Siti Aisyah on March 11 followed high-level lobbying from Jakarta. Huong sought to be acquitted after Aisyah was freed, but prosecutors rejected her request.

The murder charge against each woman had alleged they colluded with four missing North Korean suspects to murder Kim. The women have said they thought they were taking part in a harmless prank for a TV show when they swiped their hands over his face with an oily substance identified as VX nerve agent. The four North Koreans fled the country the morning of February 13, 2017, after the two women had accosted Kim in a Kuala Lumpur airport terminal.

Siti Aisyah, left, smiles with her lawyer Gooi Soon Seng at a press conference after she was freed from custody last month.Credit:AP

The High Court judge last August had found there was enough evidence to infer that Aisyah, Huong and the four missing North Koreans engaged in a "well-planned conspiracy" to kill Kim and had called on the two women to present their defence.

Huong's lawyers have accused Attorney-General Tommy Thomas of being unfair and discriminating against Huong. The Bar Council and some lawmakers have urged Thomas to be transparent and explain his decision, although he isn't obliged to do so. Vietnam's government has also voiced displeasure and urged Malaysia to be fair and release Huong.

Lawyers for the women have previously said that they were pawns in a political assassination with clear links to the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and that the prosecution failed to show the women had any intention to kill. Intent to kill is crucial to a murder charge under Malaysian law.

Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, pictured in 2010.Credit:AP

Huong would face a death sentence if she is convicted of murder.

Malaysian officials have never officially accused North Korea and have made it clear they don't want the trial politicised.

Kim Jong-nam was the eldest son in the current generation of North Korea's ruling family. He had been living abroad for years but could have been seen as a threat to Kim Jong-un's rule.

AP

Source: Read Full Article