Latest news with #YassinYahya
New Straits Times
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Yassin: All sorts of feelings were playing in my mind
PUNCAK ALAM: Comedian Yassin Yahya expressed his gratitude upon his arrival in Malaysia at 12.30am on Saturday. Yassin, who had departed from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at 10.30am (3pm Malaysian time), said that the emotions he experienced during the flight were indescribable. "When I was first held in lockup, on the second and third days, I truly felt like I would never return to Malaysia. "Even one day felt like a month, two days felt like two months, and so on. But now, a day feels too short. It feels like only yesterday I went through everything," he said in an exclusive interview with Harian Metro. Yassin, who was detained for six months at the Foreign Nationals Administration and Deportation Centre in Jeddah, initially had no idea how long he would be held there. "I didn't know how long—a year, two, three, or four years? All sorts of feelings raced through my mind at the time," he explained. "So, even when I boarded the plane, I was still sweating. I kept thinking, 'Am I really out?' "When I arrived at KLIA and stepped onto the mainland, my feelings were truly a mix of emotions." Continuing his story, Yassin recounted that he was initially placed in a severely overcrowded temporary lockup. "The temporary lockup was an open area where anyone who had just been arrested, whether Arab or foreign, was mixed together," he said. "I was there for eight days, waiting to see if anyone from the agency would come looking for me. They didn't even know where I was; I had just vanished without a trace, disappeared from the radar." This led to significant worry for his wife, Farah Waheeda. Yassin explained that he was unable to contact her, despite their usual constant communication. "If I disappeared for even a day, she would search for me, let alone something like this. "She would have to answer to people. So, I was hoping the mutawif agency would come and visit." "On the ninth day, they still hadn't arrived, and I was transferred. "By the twelfth day, I thought they had returned home. I knew they were back and assumed they wouldn't still be in Jeddah," he said.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Yassin Yahya: I wasn't detained for smuggling drugs!
27 May - Yassin Yahya has finally opened up about his arrest in Jeddah, having been detained in Saudi Arabia for the past six months. The comedian, who shared his experience with good friend Saiful Apek on the latter's podcast, said that the news that he was detained for illegal drug possession is wrong and that it was due to him bringing an item that bore an image of an illegal substance. Admitting that his lack of knowledge about the country being one of the reasons for what happened to him, Yassin said that it all started with him joining a fully sponsored umrah travel trip. However, due to his busy schedule, he didn't get the chance to attend umrah courses prior to departure. "Before I left, I made a joke with mum saying that I might 'extend' my stay. My mum was surprised by it. But it unwittingly came true," he said. Yassin, who boarded an eight-hour flight to Jeddah, said that he thought about how he can smoke and decided to buy cigarette rolling paper, a grinder as well as a pack of cigarettes. That's what the custom officers in Jeddah saw when they scanned his bag. "They saw the image on the grinder and went to further inspect my bag. I told them it was cigarettes and that they can do urine test on me. At the same time, I asked my mutawif to go on without me because they were leaving for Madinah," he said. Yassin said that he thought the custom officers would take him back to his umrah group after the interrogation, but instead they cuffed him and took him to a police station in Jeddah. "I wondered what was wrong because if it was because of the image on the grinder, I would have been detained in Malaysia... But I wasn't given a chance to explain or call anybody, and we weren't able to communicate properly [due to language barrier]. On my way, I just prayed to Allah and leave everything to Him," he said. Yassin said that he was detained for six months at the deportation centre before finally coming home without bringing any of his belongings back. (Photo Source: Yassin IG, Harian Metro)
New Straits Times
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Yassin's detention ordeal: Slept standing up in lockup, returns with only clothes on back
KUALA LUMPUR: Popular Malaysian comedian Yassin Yahya, a member of the beloved group Senario, has finally spoken out about his six-month detention in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Returning to Malaysia last week after his release from the Foreign Nationals Administration and Deportation Centre, Yassin clarified that his arrest was not drug-related but stemmed from his unwitting possession of prohibited items. In a special podcast episode of 'Darkcast' titled "Special Episode - Yassin Yahya, guilty or ???" with Saiful Apek, broadcast on YouTube's Gitu Gitu Studio, Yassin recounted the harrowing experience. He explained that his journey to perform Umrah, his first, was a spontaneous decision after an offer to sponsor 25 artistes. "I was excited and thought this was the time," he shared, describing the dilemma he faced with existing work commitments. A conversation with his mother, who had just prayed for one of her children to perform Umrah, solidified his decision. However, a tight schedule meant he had little time for proper preparation. "I only prepared by studying on YouTube for a short time," he admitted. The unfortunate incident unfolded upon his arrival in Jeddah on Oct 27 last year. Prior to his eight-hour flight, Yassin, seeking a way to smoke during his journey, purchased cigarette papers, a grinder, and a pack of cigarettes at the airport. It was the grinder, bearing a symbol deemed prohibited in Saudi Arabia, that triggered his detention. "Arriving in Jeddah, my bag was scanned during the flight to Madinah. The customs officer saw something and ordered me to open my bag," he recalled. The officer, holding the grinder, immediately identified it as a suspicious item. Despite Yassin's explanation that they were for cigarettes and his offer to undergo a urine test, he was taken to a room, where he and his belongings were thoroughly searched. He recounted his frustration at the communication barrier and his instruction to his mutawif to proceed without him. Subsequently, Yassin was taken to the police station for questioning, but to his dismay, he was not released. "After the interrogation, they closed the searched bags and I thought they wanted to send me back to the group of pilgrims," he said. Instead, he was handcuffed and taken to a police station in a jeep. "I wonder what I did wrong. If I think about it, the symbol issue wouldn't be a crime. If I had done wrong, I would have been arrested in Malaysia. I really don't know about the laws there." Cut off from contact, Yassin found himself in a police lockup in Jeddah, where he spent ten days in dire conditions. "The conditions in the lockup were quite sad. The first time I slept standing up because the floor was full," he revealed, describing how he eventually found a spot to sleep in front of a toilet door. On Nov 5, Yassin was transferred to the Foreign Nationals Administration and Deportation Centre in Jeddah. He was finally able to contact the Malaysian consulate in Jeddah, who eventually facilitated a brief, albeit interrupted, call with his wife. An online court hearing on Nov 19 saw him sentenced to six months. "I admit my mistake. I told my wife, it was my mistake to bring something with a prohibited symbol, maybe I overlooked it. "This is a lesson, I want to say that if you go to someone's country, be careful. Don't bring items with prohibited symbols," he said. Upon his release last week, Yassin made the decision to return to Malaysia with only the clothes on his back, leaving all his belongings behind in Jeddah. "I left all my belongings in Jeddah as beautiful memories," he stated, explaining that recovering them would have extended his stay by another month, which he couldn't bear. He secured an emergency certificate as he had no other documents. Despite the ordeal, Yassin expressed no regrets, describing his six-month detention as a "study period" that offered invaluable life experience. "Alhamdulillah, this is not 'death and rebirth', but it is the next opportunity, and I have completed my studies at the university in Jeddah," he reflected. His overwhelming desire to reunite with his mother, wife, and children drove his swift return. He extended his gratitude to both the Jeddah and Malaysian consulates for their crucial assistance throughout his ordeal.
