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Vietnamese Kim murder suspect in good health – embassy officials

By VnExpress March 15, 2017 | 07:09 am PT

Doan Thi Huong (left) is escorted after a court appearance in Sepang on March 1, 2017. Photo by AFP

Vietnamese embassy officials checked on her during a consular visit on Wednesday.

Vietnamese embassy officials in Malaysia on Wednesday visited Doan Thi Huong, the accused murderer of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader, and found her in good conditions.

Huong told the Vietnamese officials she has been in good health, and that she had been duped into taking part in the assassination.

Her family in the northern province of Nam Dinh was also informed of the meeting and updated on Huong’s conditions.

Upon the family’s request, Vietnam’s embassy in Malaysia and the Vietnam Bar Association are working with Malaysian agencies to hammer out the best legal assistance possible for Huong.

Huong, 28, and Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, on March 1 were charged with the murder of Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, after his assassination at a Malaysian airport. Both are facing the death penalty.

Police accuse the pair of having wiped VX nerve agent, a weapon of mass destruction and banned around the world, on Kim’s face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13.

The women claim they thought they were merely taking part in a prank video.

Selvam Shanmugam, the Malaysian lawyer defending Huong, told local press during a Vietnam visit earlier this month that he strongly believes in her innocence.

Huong will stand trial on April 13.

> Malaysian lawyer of Vietnamese suspect in Kim murder believes she’s ‘innocent’

> Vietnamese consular officials advise family of Kim murder suspect