39 Indonesian Migrant Workers Face Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia

Jakarta (Antara) - Thirty-nine Indonesian migrant workers are currently facing a death penalty in Saudi Arabia for alleged involvement in various crimes, according to a foreign ministry official. "From 2011 until now, a total of 48 TKIs (Indonesian migrant workers) have been acquitted from a death penalty, but there are still 39 others who still face the penalty due to their alleged involvement in various cases, including killing employers or fellow TKIs," the foreign ministry's director of Indonesian citizen protection and legal entities Tatang Abdul Razak said at a press conference here on Monday. He had called the press conference to discuss the development of the case of Satinah, who faces the death penalty for allegedly killing her employer in 2011. He said the government represented by the Indonesian embassy staff had done their utmost to provide legal aid to Indonesian citizens facing jail or death sentence in Saudi Arabia. He said Indonesia respected the law in the workers' respective countries. Regarding the Satinah case, he said the TKI from Semarang, Central Java, was sentenced to death for killing her employer and stealing the employer's money. He said the government still continued to approach the victim's family to ask for pardon. Satinah was sentenced to death in 2011, after she admitted to killing her 70-year-old employer and taking 37,900 Saudi riyals from the employer. Initially Satinah was sentenced to an absolute death penalty, but after appealing she was later sentenced to "Qishash" death penalty, which can be avoided if she pays "diyat" (compensation) at an amount determined by the victim's family. The victim's family initially asked for Rp45 billion or 15 million Saudi riyals but following negotiations the government expressed readiness to pay only 4 million riyals. Until now, the Indonesian government had collected 4 million riyals to help pay for the compensation for Satinah's freedom. The victim's family has not announced if they will pardon Satinah and agree to accept the compensation. (*) Reporting by Amie Fenia Arimbi