"Of the 38 men and women, four are waiting for execution process while the rest are having their case in court," Foreign Affairs Ministry`s Director for Protection of Indonesian Nationals Abroad, Tatang Budhie Razak, said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - About 38 Indonesians are facing death penalty in Saudi Arabia for conducting various crimes, the Foreign Affairs Ministry`s Director for Protection of Indonesian Nationals Abroad, Tatang Budhie Razak, said here on Wednesday.

"Of the 38 men and women, four are waiting for execution process while the rest are having their case in court," Tatang said.

He explained the four convicts, all being charged for murder, can be freed from death penalty if family of the victims forgives them. The convict, according to syaria law implemented in Saudi Arabia, must also pay Diyat (compensation money) to the family of the victim.

Currently, the government focuses on the case of Satinah binti Jumadi, an Indonesian maid facing death penalty for murdering her female employer. After intensive lobbies have been conducted by Indonesian government representatives, the family of the victim agrees to forgive Satinah and demands that the convict pay compensation of 10 million Real. The family agrees to defer the execution until June 13, 2013, in order to give time to Satinah to pay the compensation.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Migrant Care Anis Hidayah calls on the government to conduct more lobbies with Saudi Arabian authorities to safe more Indonesian workers from death penalty.

"A high level of lobbies must be conducted to safe those workers from death. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must discuss this problem with the Saudi Arabian King," she said.

Anis added that in protecting Indonesian workers convicted abroad the government must also understand their cases thoroughly. "Some of the workers have killed their employers to protect themselves from abusive treatment," she said.

According to data from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, there are a total of 4,227,383 Indonesians living abroad, with 2,536,429 of them employed in the informal sector. Saudi Arabia employs the largest number of Indonesian domestic workers, with 748,727. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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