More Indonesian workers face death sentences abroad
More Indonesian workers face death sentences abroad
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Manpower Bomer Pasaribu revealed on
Monday that besides Kartini binti Karim, nine other Indonesian
workers were facing a death sentence overseas for murder.
Ikaesih binti Dul Holid from Cirebon, West Java, is the latest
Indonesian migrant worker to be charged with murder. She was
accused of throwing her employer's baby from the third floor of
an apartment in Singapore last week.
"The trial is still going on," he said in an informal meeting
with reporters.
The minister said apart from Kartini of Karawang, West Java,
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) court had sentenced Sriningsih
from Brebes, Central Java, to be stoned to death for killing her
Sri Lankan fellow worker.
Unlike Kartini, who is appealing to the Fujairah Higher Court,
Sriningsih is waiting for legal assistance in order to evade the
death penalty.
Bomer said the Indonesian Embassy, in cooperation with labor
supply companies which sent the two workers, have recruited local
lawyers who will act on their behalf.
He said he was optimistic they would be freed from the charges
following the lawyers' negotiations with UAE authorities and the
victims' relatives.
In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Siti Zaenab binti Duhri Rupa from
Bangkalan, East Java, is facing a death sentence for killing her
employer's wife. The local district court is expected to make its
verdict next week.
Bomer said the trial of an Indonesian couple from West Nusa
Tenggara, charged with murdering their employer, is also underway
in Saudi Arabia.
Four more workers who illegally immigrated to Malaysia are
also facing death sentences for murder, Bomer said without
elaborating.
He conceded it was difficult and complicated to provide legal
protection for troubled workers in the Middle East because
Indonesian citizens employed as domestic helpers are not
protected by labor laws adopted by the countries.
"Indonesians who are employed as domestic helpers are not
treated as workers but part of their employers' family," he said.
He pledged to review the legal procedure of labor export in a
move to curb troubles which commonly involve Indonesian workers
overseas.
The minister said the government would immediately sign
bilateral agreements with Singapore, Malaysia and Middle Eastern
countries to provide legal protection for Indonesian workers
employed in those countries.
He said Indonesia, along with Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, would
propose a clause to strengthen the existing bilateral agreements
on legal protection for Indonesians in the two countries.
Bomer also said the Ministry of Manpower was also making
efforts to bring home the body of an Indonesian worker who died
four months ago in Taiwan after suffering a serious injury.
He said the ministry had revoked the license of the labor
export company which supplied the worker to that country.
The case was revealed after the victim's family lodged a
complaint on the case to the ministry last week. (rms)