Family consoles convict before execution
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post/Malang
Crushing sadness and wan smiles marked the last Idul Fitri for Astini as she bade farewell to her family and fellow inmates in Malang women's penitentiary, aware that she is likely to face the firing squad in the coming days.
Astini was seen mingling with hundreds of well-wishers and inmates after the Id prayers on Sunday. Wearing the regular blue prison uniform, together with a sarong of the same hue, the 49- year-old woman looked relaxed and cheerful.
"Forgive me, Minal aidin walfaidzin," she intoned the Idul Fitri greeting solemnly. Most of those she greeted sobbed.
The Surabaya District Court found Astini guilty of murdering and mutilating three women on separate occasions between August 1993 and September 1995. She killed the three because they were unable to repay their debts to her.
The visit of her children and grandchildren, however, was more than a consolation for Astini.
Astini hurriedly approached her son Fidianto, who arrived earlier than his siblings, Sulastri and Teddy. The last two came along with their families.
Her husband remarried some years ago.
Astini's legal efforts to avoid execution were exhausted after former president Megawati Soekarnoputri rejected her request to have her death sentence commuted on Oct. 5.
Surabaya prosecutor's office director Dharmawan said Astini's execution had been delayed until after Idul Fitri to honor the Ramadhan fasting month. She will be the third person to be executed this year.
Astini and her family met in the warden's office. The 49-year- old woman kissed her grandchildren repeatedly.
She even went back to her cell to fetch the cookies that she had prepared. "These are for my children and grandchildren," she told one of the guards.
The family reunion was cut short by a guard announcing that afternoon visiting time was up. It was a heartbreaking moment as Astini watched her children and grandchildren leave.
"I don't know what to say. I'm leaving everything to God almighty," Sulastri, Astini's pregnant eldest daughter, told The Jakarta Post.
A tearful Sulastri said that she had faith in her mother's lawyer.
"I leave the legal matters up to my mother and her lawyer," she said.
Astini's second child, Teddy, said he had decided to pray and submit her mother's fate to God. "We just pray to God for our mother's strength," he said.
He hoped that she would be able to accept whatever fate bestowed on her. "We have been trying to comfort her," he said.
Astini's youngest child, Fidiyanto, preferred to keep silent.
Warden Purwanti Suyatni hoped the courts would review the sentence.
"I personally think the death sentence handed down on her is inappropriate as she did it unintentionally," she told the Post.
Suyatni said that Astini had improved mentally and spiritually since she had arrived in the penitentiary.
"She is well behaved, polite to her fellow inmates and guards, and almost every day learns to recite the Koran from a teacher who comes here," she said.
Another inmate agreed with the warden. "To the best of my knowledge, Ibu Astini is not a bad person," said Ratih (not her real name), an inmate in the penitentiary.