Indonesian grandmother freed from Malaysia’s death row after 15 years returns home

Asih returned home on 2 April 2026 - (Hayat/Instagram)

An Indonesian grandmother who spent about 15 years on death row in Malaysia for drug trafficking has returned home after receiving clemency, in a case that rights groups say exposes the systematic exploitation of poor migrant women in cross-border drug operations.

Ani Anggraeni – a name her trafficker put on her passport without her knowledge – boarded a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta on Thursday after the governor of Penang granted her a pardon on 19 March, just before Eid al-Fitr.