Report on worker facing execution in Saudi verified
Report on worker facing execution in Saudi verified
JAKARTA (JP): Reports of a female Indonesian worker who could
face the death sentence if found guilty in Saudi Arabia have been
confirmed by the labor supply company which sent her to the oil-
rich country in 1993.
The Suara Pembaruan daily reported Sunday that the company, PT
Avida Aviaduta, had identified the maid as Nasiroh binti
Karnudin, 24, a Gunungbatu Sinargali villager of the
Sindangbarang subdistrict in West Java's Cianjur regency.
"As the director of the company which sent her, I will be
responsible and will do my best to help her," Rusjdi Bahasuan was
quoted by the newspaper as saying.
Rusjdi was not available for further comment yesterday.
The Jakarta Post had earlier reported, based on information
from a local non-governmental organization Solidaritas Perempuan
(Women's Solidarity), that the maid's name was Nasimah Kasmidi.
Yesterday, a member of staff at the labor department of the
Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh, Nindinilla Minto, said the embassy
had yet to obtain information concerning the maid.
"The information will only be available in a week, because a
team from the embassy will only start checking this report this
afternoon," Minto told the Post by phone.
"It will take some time because we have to check prisons,
police stations, not only one place," he added.
But the Pembaruan daily reported that the embassy had been
informed in 1995 by the Saudi foreign ministry about Nasiroh's
imprisonment for allegedly killing her male employer in 1994.
The embassy had also sent in April 1995, according to the
daily, two members of staff from its labor department to a prison
in Gassim where Nasiroh was incarcerated.
Nasiroh was charged for shooting her employer, Saleh Al
Senedi, in September 1994. She has yet to be tried, the report
said.
Under the Saudi justice system, a guilty verdict could lead to
death by beheading.
The maid reportedly shot her employer after he sexually
harassed her.
Last month, an Indonesian maid, Soleha Anam Kadiran, was
executed for murdering her employee.
Soleha's execution sparked uproar here, with the government
strongly criticized for its slow response to the case.
A Solidaritas Perempuan migrant workers' campaigner, Arifin
Moch. Nur, called on the government yesterday to be open in
disclosing the plight of Indonesian workers.
"The Saudi government, as well as our government, should be
open or we will continue to face the shocking news of more
executions along with other problems faced by our workers there,"
Arifin said.
Yesterday, as reported by Antara, the Indonesian Ambassador to
Saudi Arabia Zarkowi Soejoeti appealed to the press to avoid
publishing reports which he said could obscure information about
"problematic" Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia.
About half a million Indonesians work in various sectors in
Saudi Arabia. This number constitutes about a quarter of all
expatriate workers in the kingdom. (aan)