No evidence found against man in assassination of Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur’s airport with VX nerve agent.
A North Korean man will be freed from Malaysian custody because of a lack of evidence connecting him to the fatal nerve agent attack on the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s ruler.
Ri Jong-chol was held in police detention for almost two weeks following the assassination of Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur’s bustling airport on February 13.
“He will be released. He is a free man. His remand expires and there is insufficient evidence to charge him,” said Malaysian Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali on Thursday.
Mohamed said Ri will be deported because he does not have valid travel documents. “He will be deported tomorrow,” he said.
In a major fallout from the assassination, Malaysia also announced on Thursday it was scrapping visa-free travel for North Koreans.
Who produced the VX poison that killed Kim Jong-nam?
Officials never said why they arrested Ri four days after Kim was attacked.
The attack was caught on grainy security camera footage that showed two women smearing something on Kim’s face as he waited for a flight. Malaysian officials say the substance was VX nerve agent, a banned chemical weapon.
North Korea is widely speculated to be behind the killing.
