Bittersweet moment for Azizul and Shalwati's children

Smiles soon turned into tears of joy, relief and then sadness as Aishah, 14, Ammar, 12, Adam, 11, and Arif, 7, saw their aunt, Noor Azilah Makhzan, who had flown all the way from Kuala Lumpur to see them. [View the video below to see their reunion]

The four children of the Malaysian couple, Azizul Raheem Awaluddin and Shalwati Nurshal, detained in Sweden for allegedly abusing them are now safe under the custody of a Malaysian-Muslim family who is a staff of the Malaysian embassy.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin, had flown in to Stockholm under the instruction of the Prime Minister to meet with his Swedish counterpart, the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Frank Belfrage, to negotiate the transfer of the children from a Swedish family to a Malaysian Muslim one. [View the video below to listen to Datuk Hamzah's statement]

As much as the efforts of Wisma Putra have been a success in getting the children into the custody of the Malaysian embassy, it was still a bitter-sweet moment for the children, whose parents are still under remand. Azizul’s detention has been extended for another 11 days while Shalwati’s proceeding is scheduled to be heard on Friday. [View the video below to listen to Aishah speak]

Datuk Hamzah, who had also met with Azizul and Shalwati, conveyed a heartfelt and emotional message from them to their four children. [View the video below to listen to their mother's message]

With one hurdle over, the family can now rejoice and rest assured that the four children are now in safe custody, as according to the wishes of their parents. However, the next hurdle is now about to be faced.

According to the case prosecutor, Anna Arnell, in a phone conversation with Astro AWANI, they are working towards a trial for the end of February, which is almost at the same time when Azizul’s new remand period comes to an end.