KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese woman, was released early on Friday after serving time for her involvement in causing the death of a man from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) at a Malaysian airport in 2017.
Huong was discharged from prison and was escorted by Malaysian Immigration Department as part of the final procedures to be sent back to her home country.
Her lead counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik confirmed her release. "Yes released at about 7.20 a.m.," he said.
A Vietnamese embassy car was sighted following a vehicle believed to carrying Huong out of the prison's main entrance.
Hours later, at a press conference at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Teh said his client was extremely happy to finally be able to return home.
He also read out a letter that Huong had written on Thursday, when he met her at the prison.
Teh said as far as Huong was concerned, the case was over and the prosecution had not made any further filing.
"The answer is no...No appeal by the prosecution on the sentence was imposed to Doan by the high court, which means the case has come to a complete end as far as Doan is concerned," he said, adding that he and his team would accompany Huong to Hanoi, Vietnam on Friday.
Huong, along with Indonesian national Siti Aisyah, was accused for killing the DPRK man by smearing VX nerve agent on the man's face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February 2017. Both denied the murder charge.
In March, Malaysian prosecutors withdrew the murder charge against Siti Aisyah before releasing her. Huong's application to have her murder charge dropped was rejected by the attorney-general.
In April, prosecutors offered Huong an alternative charge for "voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means," which she pleaded guilty to.
She was sentenced to three years and four months with two years already served since her arrest on Feb. 15, 2017 and the remaining one-third granted remission. Enditem
