MALAYSIAN Dikir Barat singer Wan Norshaheeda Azlin, better known as Eda Ezrin, has been released from the Narathiwat Central Prison in southern Thailand today, after more than nine months in detention over drug charges that were ultimately dropped.
Her release comes after the Thai prosecution failed to produce sufficient witnesses and evidence to proceed with an appeal against an earlier court decision that had acquitted her and five others.
On 6 March this year, the Narathiwat Provincial Court acquitted Eda, 30, along with her husband Mohd Affendi Ahmad, 35, and four friends — Eridieka Mohd Noor, 33; Mohamad Alif Deraman, 33; Nur Aida Mamat, 33; and Zuhaira Nasrin, 26 — of possessing 6,059 methamphetamine pills. The court had deliberated the case over three days in February.
Despite the acquittal, Thai prosecutors filed successive appeals and were granted extensions by the court five times, stretching from March through early August. However, the appeal was ultimately dropped after failure to advance the case with sufficient evidence.
Eda’s father, Wan Ismail Wan Yusuf, 52, expressed immense relief at the news of her freedom.
“Alhamdulillah, I am overjoyed. This proves my daughter’s innocence after months of waiting and praying,” he was quoted as saying by Berita Harian. “We will be holding a thanksgiving kenduri and prayer session at our local mosque tomorrow night.”
He added that Eda’s mother — his former wife — would be welcoming their daughter upon her return from Thailand.
Eda Ezrin, known for her contributions to the traditional Malay performance art of Dikir Barat, had been held in Narathiwat since her arrest last year. - August 6, 2025
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