The government is scrambling to prevent the execution of a female migrant worker in Saudi Arabia, and avoid the harsh public outcry that followed the beheading of another Indonesian maid in the kingdom in June.
The migrant worker has been identified as Tuti Tursilawati, from Majalengka, West Java, according to Migrant Care policy analyst Wahyu Susilo.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has already sent two letters to the Saudi king, asking him to cancel the planned execution, said the foreign affairs minister, Marty Natalegawa.
“Besides the previous letter sent by the president to the Saudi Arabian king last Friday, another letter was sent in the evening on October 6,” he said.
Anis Hidayah, executive director of Migrant Care, said the government task force for migrant workers and the embassy in Riyadh had been ineffective in past attempts to save migrants on death row.
Therefore, she said, “it is now time for the president to intervene by making a direct approach to the Saudi king.”
Tuti has been accused of murdering her employer, Suud Malhaq Al Utibi, in May 2010. She claims Al Utibi attempted to rape her, so she hit him in the head with a piece of wood and then fled, carrying 31,500 riyal ($8,400) as well as her employer’s watch.
If the victim’s family does not forgive Tuti, she will be executed in November, Wahyu said.
A representative of the Indonesian government visited Tuti in jail, and the Foreign Ministry is trying to arrange for her family see her, Marty said.
“We have also made this request to the Saudi Arabian foreign minister, while our consul general and ambassador have held a meeting with the governor of Mecca,” he said.
The government, he said, is also talking directly with the family of Tuti’s former employer.
“As a last step we are trying our best to obtain forgiveness from the family of the victim,” said Michael Tene, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Hopefully, a diyat or [monetary] compensation can be paid.”
The Saudi Foreign Ministry, Marty said, has promised to facilitate the government’s attempts to obtain forgiveness.
Meanwhile, Indonesian activists are planning to launch an international campaign to protest against Tuti’s planned execution, Anis of Migrant Care said.
“Under any situation, a death sentence for someone who is only defending herself cannot be justified,” Anis said. “Tuti was defending her honor.”
There are seven Indonesian migrant workers on death row in Saudi Arabia, Muhammad Maftuh Basyuni, head of the government’s migrant worker task force, was quoted as telling Antara news agency on Wednesday.
He said that in addition to Tuti, others on death row included Satinah, Aminah, Darmawati and Siti Zainab.
The first three women, all accused of killing their employers, have already been forgiven by the victims’ families. Zainab must wait two or three more years for the victim’s son to mature before she can possibly receive forgiveness.
The government, Maftuh said, is trying to secure the release of the other two migrant workers, whom he did not name, by offering monetary compensation to the families.
(as read in the JG)
wo 12 okt 2011 - 23:36