Various efforts had been taken and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had even requested a pardon through the Saudi King twice to spare them from death.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Seven Indonesian workers are facing critical moments in Saudi Arabia with regard to their death sentences, Maftuh Basuni said to ANTARA News here on Wednesday.

Maftuh, the chief of the task force charged with handling cases of Indonesian workers/citizens abroad, said seven Indonesian migrant workers are now in a very critical position with regard to their death sentences.

He said various efforts had been taken and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had even requested a pardon through the Saudi King twice to spare them from death.

He said Indonesia respects the law in that country and does not wish to interfere in the implementation of the law in that country.

He said however that Islam gives an opportunity for the family of a murder victim to give a pardon.

Maftuh said 43 Indonesians have been threatened with a death penalty in Saudi Arabia and 24 of them have been sentenced to death while the cases of 19 others are still under investigation.

Of the 24 who have been sentenced to death, six have received a pardon while five others have their sentences reviewed, six others awaiting a pardon from the king because their case was related to hypnotism and the rest seven are awaiting the critical decision of whether they would get a pardon or not.

The seven Indonesians are Tuti Tursilawati, Satinah, Zaenab, Aminah and Darmawati. Two others are still awaiting the penalty. Mahtuh declined to tell the names of the two.

Regarding Tuti`s case he admitted that her position was critical because she had confessed to all the charges. The decision for the implementation of her death penalty has been approved and now in the hands of the governor of Mecca.

Tuti has been charged of killing her employer and stealing her employer`s possessions.

Mahtuf said the government and the task force had done everything to save her.

He said the foreign minister through the Indonesian ambassador to Saudi has also taken efforts including meeting the governor of Mecca and the governor of Thoif and other agencies concerned for it.

"Today (October 12) the deputy chairman of the task force, Alwi Shihab, expects to be received by deputy foreign minister of Saudi Arabia Abdullah Asiz bin Abdullah carrying out a special message expected to be passed to the Saudi King," he said.

With regard to Satinah Mahtuf said that she was also facing a critical moment. He said Satinah has been four years in Al Qasim jail for killing her employer.

He said efforts had also been to spare her from death including a meeting between the task force chief and the son of the victim in the middle of July initiated by the governor Al Qosim.

During the meeting the son of the victim had expressed willingness to ask other family members to give her a pardon, Mahtuf said.

He said the embassy recently received information that the family of the victim agreed to pardon her with a compensation of 10 million riyals.

About Zainab who has been more than 10 years in Madinah jail and sentenced to death for killing her employer Mahtuf said that the family of the victim had decided to refuse to pardon her until the employer`s child now still 13 years old becomes an adult two of three years later to be asked for his opinion on it.

Aminah and Darmawati are facing a death penalty for killing Indonesian citizens and mutilated their bodies. The families of the victims have given a pardon and therefore they could be spared from qishosh.

However because what they had done was considered very cruel the local court decided to sentence them to death.

"We have tried and are trying to ask the king to give them sentence reduction, spare them from death," Maftuh said.

Efforts meanwhile are still being take to release two other citizens, he said. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011