PESHAWAR: A Pakistani laborer who got 25 years in prison in a narcotics case in Saudi Arabia said he had found a second life after being released and returning to his home and family in Upper Dir in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s province last week.
Wali Muhammad was recently pardoned by the kingdom after spending 12 years in jail.
“I had lost hope of being with my family again,” he told Arab News over the phone on Monday. “I have found a new life. We are all praying for King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prime Minister Imran Khan since it is because of them that I am sitting with my relatives as a free man today.”
During a February 2019 visit to Pakistan, the Saudi crown prince ordered the release of about 2,100 Pakistani prisoners from the kingdom’s jails.
“I have four daughters who are grown up now,” Muhammad said, describing the years while he was in prison. “The only thing that haunts me is the fact that my mother died only ten months ago. Whenever I called home from prison, my mother used to ask me when I was going to come back. Just to console her, I used to say I would return as soon as the ban on international flights was lifted.”
Ibrahim Khan, Muhammad’s relative, said all villagers had gone to greet Muhammad when he returned to his hometown.
“Since his arrival, we have been receiving five to ten guests every day who want to meet and congratulate him,” Khan said.
Muhammad said he traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2007 on a work visa where he did various jobs, including driving a taxi.
“I was detained by the police in 2009 when I picked up three Pakistani passengers who arrived in Riyadh,” he said. “Police had recovered some capsules from one of them. During the legal proceedings, I got 25 years in prison along with another passenger while the other two individuals were sentenced to death.”
Two weeks ago, Pakistani inmates in his jail were told they would be released and shifted to another location, Muhammad said. However, they were taken straight to Jeddah airport by vehicles that arrived to pick them up at midnight.
“Before embarking on a Lahore-bound flight, we did not know our next destination,” Muhammad said. “I cannot express in words the happiness I felt when I landed in my country.”
As he reached his residence in Ushirai Dara, a scenic town popular with tourists, Muhammad said he realized that his children, who he last saw in 2007, had become teenagers.
“I hope other Pakistani prisoners in Saudi jails will be released soon also,” he said.