ARAB NEWS: RIYADH: A Turkish barber who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia on blasphemy charges but later pardoned by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and released, left for Istanbul from Jeddah by a Turkish Airways flight on Monday night.
“On arrival at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport yesterday, Sabri Bogday, 31, was received by his wife and family members,” Turkish Ambassador Naci Koru said here yesterday.
Speaking on behalf of the people and the government of Turkey, Koru thanked King Abdullah for the royal pardon. He said that the Turkish barber was welcomed at the airport by a big crowd, including his wife, Muazzez Bogday, two-year-old son Suleyman, and mother Hadra.
The diplomat said that a Saudi court overturned Bogday’s sentence after he repented and asked God for forgiveness. The Ministry of Interior informed us about the release of Bogday last week, said Koru.
The barber, who had been behind the bars for the last three years, called his family on Monday night after being finally released in Jeddah and said he would be in Turkey soon.
Bogday has been released at a time when Turkish President Abdullah Gul is expected to visit Saudi Arabia on Feb. 3. The release prior to the visit is also perceived as a gesture of goodwill and friendship between the two nations, said a report published by a Turkish newspaper.
Muazzez, the barber’s wife, thanked President Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for their efforts and appeal to King Abdullah while saying that “the humanitarian gesture on the part of the Saudi king himself, cannot be expressed in words.”
Bogday, from the southern Turkey’s Hatay region, arrived in Jeddah 11 years ago and opened a barbershop.
According to reports, the barber argued with his neighbor, an Egyptian tailor, and was arrested after the tailor told police that Bogday was involved in blasphemy. >>> Ghazanfar Ali Khan | Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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