YAHOOdi saja nak lagakan malay dengan lao...

Emotional reunion for returning suspect

2010/03/22


ALOR STAR: It was an emotional moment for a trader and his family when they met for the first time after he was temporarily released from a Laotian jail.

The 59-year-old man, who was detained for alleged human trafficking in Laos since May last year, was given a 10-day break by the Laotian government to return home to visit the grave of his 48-year-old wife, who died in Padang Besar, Perlis, on Thursday.

He arrived in Malaysia on Saturday and was reunited with three of his four daughters, aged between 11 and 21, at Sultan Abdul Halim Airport here yesterday before they headed for Padang Besar.

"I'm sad because I didn't have the chance to meet my wife.

"She was suffering from kidney failure and I knew her condition got worse after I was detained."

Relating his ordeal which saw him languishing in prison for almost a year, the man said he was kept in a cell with more than 30 detainees, including two Muslims from Pakistan and Africa.

He said he left for Laos on May 10 with a male friend to recruit workers.

He said he was paid RM300 by his friend to be his interpreter.

He was arrested on May 13 as he was about to leave Laos while his friend managed to return to Malaysia.

Umno Youth community complaints bureau chairman Datuk Mohd Khairun Aseh, who was accompanying the man, said he was "a victim of injustice".

"He has yet to be charged in court although he has been in detention for nearly a year.

"We will try our best to help him prove to the Laos government that he is not guilty. We will also cooperate with the police and Wisma Putra to trace his friend."

He said the man's 10-day return was made possible with special permission from the prime minister of Laos, the first ever given by the country.