Government deplores maid's execution

Government deplores maid's execution

JAKARTA (JP): The government expressed concern yesterday over
what it called secrecy surrounding the criminal trial of an
Indonesian maid in Saudi Arabia, which led to her execution.

State Minister of Women's Roles Mien Sugandhi said the Saudi
Arabian government could have discussed the case with Indonesian
emissaries to allow the domestic servant to defend herself.

Soleha Anam (not Sulaita as earlier reported), 30, was
beheaded by sword in Mecca last week after being convicted for
killing her employer in 1994.

"Whoever Soleha was, she was one of God's creatures who had
the right to defend herself and the right to live. Why was she
executed when she didn't even have a chance to defend herself?"
Mien was quoted by Antara as saying.

She called on the Saudi government to reduce the punishment
handed to other Indonesian workers should they break the law,
given that they outnumber other expatriates who work there.

"Even though Saudi Arabia applies a strict law, we can talk
about religious manners. Our religion recognizes deliberation,
doesn't it?"

About 87 percent of Indonesia's 200 million population are
Moslem, making it the largest Moslem country on earth.

Mien said the Saudi Arabian government could have sought a
compromise with Indonesian consulates about Soleha's fate, even
though she was considered an illegal worker.

"The execution of an Indonesian woman should be cause for deep
concern in the nation, because 92 percent of Indonesian workers
abroad are women," Mien said.

She insisted that Soleha of Malang, East Java, entered the
oil-rich country as a legal worker.

Earlier yesterday, the Ministry of Manpower's Director General
of Manpower Placement and Development Jacky Iskandarsyah told
Mien that Soleha went to Saudi Arabia in 1993 legally through an
Indonesian labor supply agency, PT Andromeda Graha.

Jacky said Soleha fled from her employer a few months later
and illegally moved to another employer, a widow, in Mecca with
the help of a driver.

He said the murder occurred in 1994 when Soleha tried to help
her employer catch one of her relatives who was about to commit a
crime.

"Soleha tried to beat the thief with a traditional pipe
shisha, but she mistakenly hit her employer to death," Jacky said
in his report.

He said PT Andromeda had reported the case to the Indonesian
Embassy in Riyadh and the Indonesian consulate general in Jeddah.

Jacky said he had asked the Indonesian Embassy last April to
request milder punishment for Soleha, but to no avail.

Human rights activists have criticized the government for
failing to protect an Indonesian citizen who was prosecuted and
eventually punished abroad. They said the Indonesian Embassy had
not been persistent in defending Soleha's rights as a migrant
worker. (amd)