Nasiroh escapes death after victim's family forgives her
Nasiroh escapes death after victim's family forgives her
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian worker Nasiroh Karmudin escaped death
yesterday after a Saudi Arabian court decided to free her from
execution because the family of the victim she admitted to have
killed forgave her, an official says.
Gaffar Fadyl, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
said Indonesian Ambassador in Riyadh, Zarkowi Soejoeti, informed
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas that negotiations between
representatives of the two sides concluded yesterday afternoon
with the decision of the victim's family to forgive Nasiroh.
Those involved in the talks were the Indonesian embassy in
Riyadh, representatives of the Gassim City Court which tried
Nasiroh, her brother, a representative of the labor export
company that recruited her, and the family of the victim.
"We have been informed that one of the victim's wives has
forgiven Nasiroh and did not ask for diyat (blood money)," Gaffar
said.
"With the declaration of forgiveness from (the family),
Nasiroh is free from qishash (an Islamic law that stipulates
punishment equal to the crime committed, including death for a
death)," he told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview last
night.
"However, she would still have to complete her five-year
prison term. She should be released by September next year,"
Gaffar said further.
"This (Nasiroh's release) is the success of an Indonesian
effort through legal and diplomatic channels as well as through
an inter-family approach," he said.
The development was the climax of weeks of outcry over
Nasiroh's case. The 24-year-old girl from West Java was jailed
since 1994 for murdering her employer, whom she said had
repeatedly sexually assaulted her.
More than 400,000 Indonesians are working in Saudi Arabia.
Nasiroh's fate was first revealed by Solidaritas Perempuan
(Women's Solidarity), a women's rights group that up to yesterday
was still staging demonstrations asking the government to do what
it could to save her from the death penalty.
Still reeling over the shocking news of the beheading of
Soleha Anam Kadiran in Mecca last month for a similar crime,
local communities immediately raised an uproar over Nasiroh's
case.
Yesterday, Solidaritas Perempuan called on the 54 members of
the Organization of Islamic Conference to ratify the 1990
International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers'
Rights and to set up a special committee on migrant workers'
rights protection. (swe/amd/09)
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