Sitting on the rooftop of the prison building, ‘convict’ Irwandi Yusuf stared at the sea of water all around him. Hours had passed. He thought about his wife and three daughters - not knowing whether they were alive - and began a monologue with God.

Irwandi was one of two prisoners - the other a petty thief - to have climbed to the roof top after the tsunami struck Aceh on the morning of Dec 26, 2004.

“I did not escape from the prison, the prison escaped me,” he quipped.

The following is an exclusive three-part series on the man who had returned from the dead to become Aceh's first directly elected governor.

Part 1: Tsunami survivor begins task as Aceh’s leader
Part 2: Dead man ruling
Part 3: Aceh’s democracy a bold experiment