"I feel calm and happy now. Thank you Mr President," Hafidz, who had been pardoned and returned home on March 21, said in press release on Thursday.
Hafidz bin Kholil Sulam who came from Bangkalan, Madura, East Java, was sentenced to death by the Mecca court on May 29, 2000 for murdering his compatriot on January 1, 1999.
He was freed from beheading after the victim`s family pardoned him and he had to pay a `diyat` fee of 400,000 riyals. His release was reached under the assistance of the consulate general in Jeddah, the task force and other relevant parties.
According to a press statement released by the Indonesian task force in charge of handling Indonesian workers abroad, Hafidz expressed his thanks upon his arrival at Soekarno Hatta airport at 8:55 am on March 21.
Hafidz was accompanied by Didi Wahyudi of the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah and was welcomed by the task force spokesman, Humphrey Djemat, Head of the Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers Overseas, Jumhur Hidayat and other officials from the ministry of foreign affairs.
According to Humphrey, over 200 Indonesian workers are facing the death row in at least six countries.
He said that 43 of the Indonesian workers facing the execution were in Saudi Arabia, 149 in Malaysia, 14 in China, 3 in Iran and 1 each in Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.
(A014/INE)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
