An 80-year-old Indonesian man by the name of Sarman Parto Pai, a resident of Rembang, Central Java, just spent six month in a Saudi Arabian jail. No doubt it was a hardship, but he should still consider himself extremely lucky that he suffered no greater punishment and was able to return to his country after he was found guilty of committing a moral crime in what is considered one of the most sacred places in Islam.
According to a press release issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs today, Sarman reportedly went to Saudi Arabia to perform the Umrah pilgrimage last year. But instead of focusing on his holiness, Sarman was allegedly caught performing an “immoral” act in the basement of Masjid al-Haram, considered the holiest site for Muslims in the world.
Saudi authorities initially handed Sarman a 10-month prison term, but that was reduced to 6 months after he received legal assistance from the Indonesian Consulate General in Mecca. Sarman was also supposed to receive 80 lashes for his crime, but was shown leniency by the court because of his frailty and old age.
Following his 6-month imprisonment in a Saudi jail, Sarman has been staying at the consulate, which acted as his guarantor, since October 2016 while his freedom was being negotiated.
“I want to see my grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” Sarman said on his way to the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah before catching his flight home.
While the details of his crime were not disclosed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Merdeka reported that Saudi authorities caught Sarman with another man, from Yemen, committing an unspecified immoral act in the basement bathroom of the Masjid al-Haram.
According to Indonesia’s Consulate General to Jeddah, Muhammad Hery Saripudin, “up to 90 percent” of Indonesians currently held in Jeddah and Mecca were accused of violating moral laws in Saudi Arabia, a country whose legal system is based on traditional Sharia laws.
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