KUALA LUMPUR (March 12): The release of an Indonesian woman accused in the 2017 killing of the North Korean leader's half-brother was entirely a Court ruling, and the government did not interfere in the decision to drop the charges against her, according to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"This is a decision made by the Court. They have gone through the proceedings and the charge was being withdrawn, so this is being done according to the law. There is a right to withdraw the charge.

"So I don't know the details of the reason in it, but according to the law, it is lawful to withdraw (a) charge," Dr Mahathir told reporters at Parliament lobby today.

It is worth noting that Dr Mahathir's statement today is contrary to a news report by Reuters, which cited a letter saying the release came upon Indonesia's request to drop charges.

Siti Aisyah, 26, together with Vietnamese co-defendant Doan Thi Huong, 30, were charged for poisoning Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with liquid VX, a banned chemical weapon, at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017.

It was reported that prosecutors told the court that they had been instructed to withdraw the charge against Siti Aisyah. No reason was given.