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)