"The letter was just received (by the Saudi ambassador) yesterday, and it will be passed on immediately, ...in the first opportunity, it will be given to the kingdom," Teuku Faizasyah, the president`s special staff for international relations, said at the presidential palace complex, here Tuesday after accompanying the head of state when receiving the Saudi Arabian ambassador.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono`s letter to Saudi Arabian king contained a strong protest against the execution of Ruyati binti Satubi, an Indonesian migrant worker, which had been done without prior notice to the Indonesian diplomats in Saudi.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa had earlier twice called the Saudi Ambassador to hand a formal letter of protest, according to Faiza.
Speaking at a press conference at his office here on June 23, President Yudhoyono said he had conveyed the "strongest possible" protest and concern over the recent beheading without prior notice of Indonesian female migrant worker Ruyati in Saudi Arabia.
"This week we were shocked by the execution of our sister Ruyati binti Satubi," President Yudhoyono said, adding that the execution without previous notice to the Indonesian government was clearly against international norms, ethics and propriety.
"With the people of Indonesia, I grieve over this incident and have sent a strong protest to the government of Saudi Arabia," the president added.
The Indonesian woman was beheaded with a sword on June 18 after being found guilty of killing the wife of her Saudi employer, Khairiya bint Hamid Mijlid, by striking her repeatedly on the head with a meat chopper and stabbing her in the neck.
(Uu.F001/HAJM/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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