Family consoles female inmate before execution
Family consoles female inmate 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 visit of her children and grandchildren, however, was more
than a consolation for Astini, who was sentenced to death in 1996
for triple murder and mutilation.
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.