Jakarta — Wilfrida Soik, a former Indonesian migrant worker (TKI) in Malaysia who was freed from the death penalty in 2015, has named her baby Merah Prima Bowo as a tribute to President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, who played a decisive role in securing her release.
Speaking to the Minister for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (P2MI), Abdul Kadir Karding, Wilfrida expressed her deep happiness at now being able to live a normal life with her family back home.
“I’m so, so happy. All this time I had been waiting—waiting for the moment I could finally return to my family. When I heard the news, I just couldn’t express the feeling. Back then, I didn’t even know who Pak Prabowo was. But in 2014, he immediately brought in a defense lawyer—paid for by Pak Prabowo—and that lawyer ultimately won my freedom,” Wilfrida said in an interview posted on @abdulkadirkarding’s official Instagram account on Friday (August 8).
Holding her baby in her arms, Wilfrida recalled Prabowo as an angel who came to her aid when she had no one else. She said she was stunned when Prabowo personally attended her trial verdict in Malaysia about a decade ago.
“I was shocked. I felt like he was an angel. I didn’t know him, and he didn’t know me, but suddenly Pak Prabowo came to visit me. I felt like he was a guardian angel,” she said.
Minister Karding explained that naming her child Merah Prima Bowo was Wilfrida’s way of showing her enduring gratitude to Prabowo.
“That name is more than just a name. It’s a symbol of thanks—a reminder that when Wilfrida was on the brink of losing everything, Pak Prabowo came as her savior,” he said.
Wilfrida Soik, originally from Belu, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), was working in Malaysia in 2010 when she killed her employer in an act of self-defense after suffering abuse. Arrested by police, her trial began in 2013.
She was sentenced to death after being found guilty of murder. However, Prabowo personally intervened in her case, attending her trial in Malaysia and hiring top Malaysian lawyer Tan Sri Mohd. Shafee to defend her. Thanks to this legal effort, Wilfrida was acquitted and freed from the death penalty in 2015.
