Đoàn Thị Hương smiles after leaving the court. AFP Photo

KUALUA LUMPUR — Vietnamese citizen Đoàn Thị Hương, who was being held in a Malaysian jail in connection with the murder of a North Korean national in 2017, was set free yesterday morning.

She plead guilty for the charge of voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons or means against a man whose passport name was Kim Chol and died after a chemical was smeared on his face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13, 2017.

The 40-month prison term, handed to her by the Malaysian high court, was calculated starting from the time Hương was detained in February, 2017.

Her lawyer said after the trial that Hương was granted a remission of one third of her jail term for good behaviour.

Hương left a women’s prison in Selangor State at around 7:10am (local time) yesterday and was received by a delegation from the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia.

Afterwards, Hương arrived at the Kuala Lumpur Airport at around 3:45pm (local time) and arrived at Hà Nội's Nội Bài airport at 10pm (local time) the same day.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Lê Thị Thu Hằng expressed delight now that Hương is free and reunited with her family.

She said this outcome was made possible by "continuous efforts of the Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, relevant agencies and the Bar Federation of Việt Nam as well as the Malaysian lawyers to protect Đoàn Thị Hương."

"We also acknowledge positive actions toward this end taken by the Malaysian relevant authorities in the recent time," the spokesperson said. — VNS