Kartini granted clemency by UAE court<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian migrant worker Kartini binti Karim
\nnarrowly escaped death row after the Islamic high court in the
\nUnited Arab Emirates town of Fujairah granted her appeal for
\nclemency recently, foreign minister Alwi Shihab said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Alwi, who went to UAE and several other Gulf countries last
\nweek, said the 35-year-old woman would be allowed to return to
\nher home in Karawang, West Java in the near future.<\/p>\n
\"The case has been settled. Insya Allah (God willing) she will
\ncome back to Indonesia,\" Alwi said.<\/p>\n
Kartini, who has been employed in UAE since February 1998, was
\nsentenced on Feb. 28, 2000 to be stoned to death for allegedly
\ncommitting adultery with her Indian colleague Muhammad Sulaiman
\nFrangoan. She gave birth to a baby five months ago.<\/p>\n
Frangoan reportedly fled the Middle East country after the
\nincident in June last year.<\/p>\n
Kartini later admitted to her lawyers that she was a rape
\nvictim.<\/p>\n
Alwi said he didn't know whether the clemency would result in
\nher acquittal from all charges or a reduction in her jail term.<\/p>\n
\"We only know that she has been serving her jail time for nine
\nmonths. She could be freed soon,\" Alwi said.<\/p>\n
Kartini was the latest Indonesian migrant worker to face
\ncapital punishment. In 1997 Nasiroh Karmudin won a clemency from
\na court in Saudi Arabia that sentenced her to death for murdering
\nher employee.<\/p>\n
Previously another Indonesian maid in Saudi Arabia was
\nbeheaded for a similar crime.<\/p>\n
Minister of Manpower Bomer Pasaribu said recently nine more
\nIndonesian migrant workers are facing execution in Middle East,
\nMalaysia and Singapore for various charges.<\/p>\n
Alwi suggested that people avoid giving Kartini a heroine's
\nwelcome when she arrives home.<\/p>\n
\"She doesn't deserve it. She has committed an offense that is
\nconsidered a sin by any religion,\" he said. (dja)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kartini-granted-clemency-by-uae-court-1447893297",
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