Talking with local media in Ho Chi Minh City on March 5, S. Selvam Shanmugam said he had a three-day working in Vietnam and visited and talked with Huong's family in the northern province of Nam Dinh.
Doan Van Thanh, Huong's father, confirmed with local media that they believed in Shanmugam and also agreed to let him represent Huong. "I've written a letter and asked him to bring it to my daughter. I mostly encourage her to be healthy and strong, we are with her," he said.
Thanh went on to say that a family member will also fly to Malaysia in coming time. Thanh said Huong was a good child but becoming more introverted when she studied pharmacy in Hanoi. Thanh is a guard for a parking lot at a market in Nam Dinh Province.
Shanmugam told Vietnamese media that there were beneficial factors for Huong such as the North Korea said Kim Chol, which Malaysian authorities believed was Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, likely died of heart attack.
Malaysian authorities said Kim was poisoned. And the lawyers said Huong touched the substance directly so should have also been harmed if what she smeared on Kim was poisonous.
Shanmugam warned that the case would last for months or years. However, he believed in the Malaysian legal system to be fair and clear. In addition, Huong could appeal to the Federal Supreme Court.
Doan Thi Huong (left) was brought to court in Malaysia on March 1
Phan Trung Hoai, Vice President of the Vietnam Bar Federation (VBF), said on March 4 that they asked both Hanoi and HCM City bar associations to recommend four lawyers to work with a vice president of Vietnam Bar Federation to give Doan Thi Huong legal support."Heads of Hanoi and HCM City bar associations will select two lawyers each that meet requirements to join this case with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice," Hoai said.
The VBF may set up a group of lawyers to collect evidence in Vietnam and give them to lawyers that are allowed to participate in the proceeding at Malaysian courts. The VBF and Vietnam Lawyers Association will work with the bar federation of Malaysia to hire lawyers for Huong.
"Lawyers allowed to join this case all have experiences of working internationally and good English skills," said Do Ngoc Thinh, chairman of VBF. "Personally, I hope she is proved innocent."
Thinh said they would do their best to help Huong have the lightest sentence possible.
The representative of the Consular Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had met with the family of Doan Thi Huong to inform them about the progress of the case and Huong's health.
On March 1, when the 14 days of custody was over, the suspects were taken to court. The representative of Embassy of Vietnam in Malaysia also presented to assist Huong.
Huong, 28, and Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, were charged by the court in Malaysia on March 1 with the murder of Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a Malaysian airport. Both women claimed they thought they were merely taking part in a prank video.
