Third PE family member freed from Saudi prison
14-month detention ends for brother, but sister still held
AFTER more than a year of turmoil and uncertainty, a Port Elizabeth family yesterday welcomed home the third of four siblings who were detained in a Saudi Arabian prison. But for Shah Waseeullah Desai, 25, the homecoming was bittersweet as his sister Yumna, 27, remains imprisoned.
Shah Waseeullah, along with his older brother Shah Waliyullah, 28, sister Huda, 34, and Yumna were detained by the Saudi government for “security reasons” in November 2015.
Elated family members and friends crowded the Port Elizabeth Airport arrivals hall holding red flowers, with some wearing clothing sporting the word “freedom”.
The family said authorities had told them the siblings had been detained after someone – based in South Africa – had reported them.
They say Saudi authorities would not reveal who had reported the siblings nor what they were reported for.
Shah Waseeullah said although he was happy to be back on home soil, he wanted the community to keep praying for Yumna’s release.
“It is a real great experience to be back home and while I am happy to see everyone and be around my family again, it feels like I have left a part of me behind.
“It is a half celebration because my sister is still detained and we do not know when she will be released.”
About six months ago, when he was first due to be released, Shah Waseeullah suffered a setback when authorities told him the vehicle he had bought needed to be sold before he could be released.
This was so he had no debt when he left the country.
The siblings’ father, prominent Islamic teacher Nazir Desai , 65, who visited his children in prison, said it had been a difficult journey.
“It has been trying times for our family. To see innocent children being locked up and wrongfully kept is difficult,” he said.
“We have still not received any explanation as to why they have been detained without any charges against them.”
Nazir said that when he had visited his children in the prison, they were blindfolded and handcuffed and shoved into a room and that was difficult to experience.
“The support we have received from the South African people has been amazing. We cannot thank everyone enough for all their support and prayers. God bless them,” Nazir said.
The eldest of the siblings, Huda, said the family was owed at least a reason or an explanation for the detentions.
“I have mixed emotions about my brother’s release, but I am thankful to everyone for their support of our family because it [the support] has helped my sister’s spirit a lot.
“I just cannot understand that this sort of thing still happens in 2017 and without an explanation. I feel like going back [to Saudi Arabia] just to show them [the authorities] that our spirits will not be broken,” Huda said.
Nazir said he believed some good had come from their ordeal.
“My youngest daughter committed the Koran, which is 650 pages long, to memory.
“Never did anyone, let alone a woman, do this in South Africa before, so we are very proud of that,” Nazir said.