A Vietnamese woman who stood trial for the assassination of the North Korean leader's half-brother was freed from prison Friday, bringing down the final legal curtain on a dramatic and often bizarre two-year murder mystery.
Kim Jong Nam, the estranged relative of Kim Jong Un and once seen as heir apparent to the North's leadership, died in agony after having his face smeared with a banned nerve agent as he waited at Kuala Lumpur airport in February, 2017.
The sensational killing made headlines around the world, and sparked a furious diplomatic row as Seoul accused Pyongyang of an elaborate plot to murder a figure who had spent years in exile and been critical of his family's rule.
Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam and Indonesian Siti Aisyah were arrested after being spotted on CCTV approaching Kim but always denied murder. The women insisted they were tricked into carrying out the hit by North Korean agents who said it was a reality TV show prank and fled Malaysia after the killing.
They went on trial, but in March prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Aisyah after diplomatic pressure and she flew home.
Then last month they withdrew murder charges against Huong, who pleaded guilty to a reduced count of "causing injury" and was told she would be released in May at the end of her sentence.
More than two years after her arrest, the 30-year-old former hair salon worker was freed from prison outside the Malaysian capital at about 7:20 am (2320 GMT Thursday), her lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik told AFP.
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Journalists waiting outside the jail saw a van and a car with tinted windows race past, and a court official at the scene also confirmed Huong had been released.
She was expected to head to an immigration office in administrative capital Putrajaya to sort out documentation, before flying to Vietnam in the evening.
"She's very happy," Hisyam said. "She's definitely looking forward to going home."