Diplomatic pressure urged to spare maids from S'pore gallows

Diplomatic pressure urged to spare maids from S'pore gallows

A. Junaidi
Jakarta

Activists from various non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
urged the government on Wednesday to take diplomatic measures
and legal action to help five Indonesian female housemaids
now facing possible death sentences in Singapore.

The activists delivered their demand during a meeting with
Indonesia's Ambassador to Singapore Mochamad S. Hidayat and
Singaporean defense lawyer Muhammad Muzamil at the office of
the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas
Perempuan) in Jakarta.

"The government should be more active in using diplomatic
pressure and legal measure to save the housemaids," Nurmawati
of the Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Association (PPTKI)
said.

Five Indonesian workers are currently facing the possibility
of a death sentence in Singapore for separate murders over the
last year. They are as Sudarti Supriyanto, Purwanti Parji,
Sumiyati Karyo, Juminem and Siti Aminah. They have all been
charged with murder, which carries a maximum sentence of death.

The verdict against Sudarti is expected to be issued on May
10, while the remaining four are still being handled by
Singaporean police and have yet to reach the courts.

According to Nurmawati, government officials, including those
at the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, had paid very little
attention to problems faced by Indonesian housemaids there.

Singapore is one of the destination countries for unskilled
Indonesian workers, who left the country in a desperate search
for work of any kind.

The majority of around 1.3 million Indonesian migrant workers
overseas, including 60,000 in Singapore, are women, who on a
number of well-publicized occasions, have suffered abuse at the
hands of their employers, but even more common is the rampant
extortion by Indonesian officials.

Nurmawati said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should use
diplomatic channels to spare the housemaids from the gallows, and
that President Megawati Soekarnoputri should request the
Singaporean government to lighten their sentences.

Many activists from various NGOs, including Migrant Care,
Dompet Dhuafa and the Committee for Migrant Workers Protection
(Kopbumi) attended the discussion.

Ambassador Mochamad S. Hidayat claimed that the government
could not use diplomatic measures while the case was still being
heard in the courts.

"We can't interfere in the court system. But after a sentence
is handed down, we promise to use diplomatic channels to assist
the housemaids," Hidayat.

He admitted that Sudarti's case was very serious as she was
charged with murder in the death of her employer and her child,
as well as burning her employer's office and robbery.

Sudarti's lawyer Muzamil, who was appointed by both
Singaporean and Indonesian governments, said that he would use a
self-defense argument to get Sudarti off.

Muzamil revealed that based on the court's hearings, Sudarti
had not been given meals by her employers for three days before
the murder occurred on June 22, two years ago.

"Her employer was known for being cruel. Another maid also
testified that she was tortured by the same employer," he said.

However, he said that although evidence, including a post-
mortem examination, showed that Sudarti stabbed her employer to
death, the defendant refused to admit it and maintains that her
employer committed suicide.

He said Sudarti's mother Binarti has been brought to Singapore
to visit her and asked her to admit to the crime in order to save
her from death penalty, but so far the defendant still claims
that the employer committed suicide.

"Sudarti often tells me that she prefers the death sentence
rather than a life sentence," Muzamil said.