Saudi Government Frees 9 OFW Prisoners

King Abdullah of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has pardoned nine more Filipino prisoners last January 11, Department of Foreign Affairs reported. Two Filipino prisoners were earlier released after given pardon last Eid ul-Fitr.

"These nine Filipinos are undergoing the necessary government procedures before they are allowed to leave the country. The Embassy is working on arranging the tickets for their journey back home, including with their original employers, if any," the DFA said on its website.

The nine prisoners were given royal pardons to mark the return of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz from the medical treatment that the leader has underwent.

Foreign Affairs secretary Alberto Romulo said that they regularly requests for the inclusions of Filipinos in any pardon especially before Ramadan, and when it knows that they have served at least half their sentence and have made restitutions under the privates rights aspect of their cases.

On the other hand, the Saudi government gives pardon to both Saudi nationals and foreigners who have committed petty crimes and are not considered as a public threat and those whose case is still under trial.

However, the pardon does not qualify those prisoners for major crimes or those who commited crimes under the Sharihah law (hadd crimes), theft, embezzlement, diyah (blood money) and gisas (retaliation).

At present time, there are about 400 to 500 detainees that are within embassy’s jurisdiction, not included those who were being monitored by the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, said DFA.

The royal family of Saudi usually grants pardons during the Eid ul-Fitr (mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan), Eid- al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice), and during other special occasion being celebrated by the royal family.