Jakarta. Indonesian officials welcomed the release of two domestic workers sentenced to death in Malaysia on Tuesday, drawing to a close a protracted legal battle over the fate of two men who accidentally killed a home intruder during a scuffle at their employer’s home.

Brothers Frans Hiu and Dharry Hiu were sentenced to death in October of 2012 in a case that inspired outrage in both Indonesia and Malaysia. According to numerous reports on the case, the brothers were asleep in a Playstation rental shophouse in Selangor, Malaysia, when 26-year-old R. Khartic, high on drugs, broke into the room. He attacked the men, causing Dharry to flee the scene for help while his brother Frans grabbed Khartic by the neck and held him down.

The burglar lost consciousness and died while being restrained. The brothers, during their trial at the Shah Alam High Court, testified that they were attacked in their home and were acting in self defense when Khartic was killed. The court disagreed, sentencing the men to death by hanging on Oct. 18, 2012.

The case was seen as a failure of justice by some in Malaysia, a country currently struggling with a surge in violent crime. The nonprofit Malaysians Against Rape, Assault and Snatch (MARAH) questioned the verdict in a Oct. 27, 2012 op-ed for the domestic news portal Free Malaysia Today, asking why the courts would punish two men who, by all accounts, were protecting themselves from a violent criminal.

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Source: The Jakarta Globe, January 28, 2014