"For now, they are accommodated by the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and will be repatriated as soon as they receive their travel documents, tickets, and so on. Hopefully, they can go home in a day or two," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Spokesperson, Michael Tene, stated during a press conference here on Wednesday.
The two brothers, Frans and Dharry Hiu, who were migrant workers from Pontianak, West Kalimantan, were sentenced to dead by Shah Alams High Court in October 2012. They soon filed an appeal against the court verdict.
In the Court of Appeal, the retainer lawyers provided by the Indonesian Embassy, Gooi and Azura, convinced the judges council that the Hiu brothers had acted in self defense.
Moreover, during the trial, the court found that the deceased, Khartic Rajah, had made a robbery attempt at the Hiu brothers house and that there was no other specific intention behind the murder.
Thus, the judges ruled that the Hiu brothers were innocent and discharged them.
The Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia, Herman Prayitno, noted the discharge of the Hiu brothers should be a lesson to stay more cautious in the future.
Ambassador Prayitno emphasized that the Indonesian government through its representatives would always make all possible efforts to protect and help the Indonesian citizens overseas, as it is also one of the priority programs of President Joko Widodos administration.
With the Hiu brothers, 37 Indonesian citizens have so far been discharged from dead penalty in Malaysia in 2014. A total of 175 Indonesian citizens are currently serving dead sentence in Malaysia.
(T.A060/Uu.INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)
Reporter: Azi Fitriyanti
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
