Govt 'tried to save' Warni's life

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Manpower Bomer Pasaribu said the government did all it could to save the life of Indonesian maid Warni, who was beheaded in Saudi Arabia on Monday.

He said that up to the last minute, the ministry's lawyers representing the maid were unable to obtain a clemency from the victim's family which could have reverted the sentence.

Bomer said that according to local Syariah law, forgiveness from the closest family member of the victim was the only thing which could have freed Warni.

"We tried to ask for forgiveness, but none of the victim's family wanted to accept our apology and save the maid from being executed. The case was one of our main priorities," Bomer told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

"The Indonesian government regrets this because whatever mistakes she made, she was an Indonesian citizen and we should have protected her from such a penalty," he remarked.

Saudi authorities beheaded the Indonesian women in the town of Al-Ihsa in eastern Saudi Arabia. She was charged with killing the Saudi woman she was working for.

A Saudi Ministry of the Interior statement said the maid had beaten the woman on the head with an iron pipe.

DPA reported that the latest execution brings to 60 the number of people beheaded this year in Saudi Arabia. Last year, 99 people were executed in the kingdom.(dja)