Homaidan Al Turki: Saudi national returns home after 19 years in US prison

Dubai: Saudi national Homaidan Al Turki, who spent 19 years in a US prison, arrived at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday, Al Ekhbariya TV reported. Al Turki, 56, was released from prison in May and had been held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the weeks since, pending deportation procedures.

Al Turki was received by members of his family, who embraced him after nearly two decades apart. Photos and videos shared on social media showed emotional scenes as relatives and supporters gathered to welcome him home, expressing quiet relief at the end of his long legal ordeal in the US.

His son, Turki, expressed the family’s deep gratitude for his release, extending thanks to King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for what he described as their unwavering support and continuous follow-up throughout the case. He also thanked the Saudi Embassy in Washington for its efforts.

Al Turki was convicted in 2006 in Colorado on charges of unlawful imprisonment and assault against his Indonesian housekeeper, in a case that drew widespread attention and allegations of judicial bias.

During his time in prison, Al Turki filed multiple legal motions challenging the conviction, most recently arguing that his original defence counsel had failed to provide adequate representation. The court later resentenced him to six years in prison and a mandatory parole term, both of which were considered already served.

In May, a Colorado court authorised Al Turki’s deportation after he accepted a plea agreement, admitting guilt to 11 amended charges and effectively bringing the case to a close. The decision ends a legal saga that began in 2004, when Al Turki, the former linguistics scholar and PhD candidate at the University of Denver, was first arrested alongside his wife for alleged immigration violations and was later re-arrested in 2006 and sentenced to 28 years in prison.