Tuti in a repeat trial session at the court in Thaif had denied all of the prosecution`s charges.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A female Indonesian migrant worker, Tuti Tursilawati, who is now facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia denied having killed her employer, Suud Mulhaq Al-Qtaibi.

The spokesman of the task force charged with handling cases of Indonesian migrant workers facing the death penalty abroad, Humphrey Djemaat, announced in a press statement received here on Thursday that there was a promising new development relating to the case.

He said that on April 29, 2012, Tuti in a repeat trial session at the court in Thaif had denied all of the prosecution`s charges regarding the pre-meditated murder of her employer.

Tuti, who hails from Majalengka, West Java, denied that she had prepared the wooden stick used to kill the victim, saying that the wood had already been in the kitchen for some time.

She also denied wearing an Arabic male costume to camouflage herself after killing her employer.

She said she had placed the costume on her shoulder because she wanted to wash it. She also denied wearing gloves to wipe out traces of the crime, saying that she always used gloves during the cold season.

Tuti was accused of killing her employer on May 11, 2010, in Thaif. The court sentenced her to death (Qishas), and the appeal court later confirmed the verdict. Thereafter, the Saudi Supreme Court also confirmed the verdict, giving a permanent legal power to the death sentence.

The ruling was then made known to the governor of Mecca, who later conveyed it to the Ministry of Home Affairs to apply to the King of Saudi Arabia for his approval of its implementation.

Due to the critical development, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono then wrote a letter that he signed in the middle of the night on October 6, 2011, to ask for the suspension of the penalty and request a pardon from the Saudi king.

After the letter was dispatched to the king, the Ministry of Home Affairs delivered it to the governor of Mecca for him to seek the pardon from the victim`s family.

According to Humphrey, the next session on Tuti`s case would be held in two weeks` time, where the court would hear the victim`s family`s refutation of Tuti`s allegations of being sexually assaulted by the victim.

For the next session, Tuti`s lawyer from Saudi Arabia, Abdurrahman Al Hindi, has prepared a strong defence giving reasons why Tuti should not face the Qishas penalty.

Humphrey noted that the repeat session also indicated that the Saudi king had paid substantial attention to President Yudhoyono`s letter and taken some steps in its direction.

Earlier efforts to prevent the implementation of the Qishas penalty on Tuti were made during a meeting held between former Indonesian president B. J. Habibie and Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud in Riyadh at the end of last year.

The task force and its representatives in Saudi Arabia have also approached and directly met with the family of the victim, represented by Munif Suud Al Qtaibi, who is the victim`s son.

Regarding Tuti`s present condition, Humphrey remarked that she remains healthy and strong, adding that her parents had come to meet her in the Thaif prison some time ago.
(Tz.M016/H-YH/INE/KR-BSR/F001)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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