Indonesia to appeal sentence in Saudi Arabia tortured migrant worker case

Indonesia to appeal sentence in Saudi Arabia tortured migrant worker case

2011-01-13 09:38:28 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA (BNO NEWS) - Indonesia announced on Wednesday that it will appeal the three-year jail sentence given to a Saudi Arabian woman for torturing her Indonesian maid, local media reported on Thursday.

Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa, 23, suffered internal bleeding and broken bones after the woman stabbed and slashed her with scissors, and even put a hot iron to her head. Sumiati's lips were also removed.

The suspect was recently found guilty and sentenced to three years under the country's newly-enacted anti-human trafficking royal decree, despite her denial of any wrongdoing.



"Though nobody has pushed us to do this, we all feel that the three-year sanction is not fair," Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said, as reported by The Jakarta Globe. "So, through our lawyer, the government will directly file an appeal. Even the prosecutor from Saudi Arabia appealed the verdict."


Saudi Arabia's labor ministry said it regretted the case but called it an "isolated incident." However, relations between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have been under pressure for months over the incident.

Last November, Indonesia said it was considering putting a hold on dispatching workers to Saudi Arabia. "A moratorium on export of manpower to Saudi Arabia may be the solution to the problem of violence against our workers. But the decision will be made after a thorough evaluation of the happenings," Suhartono, a Manpower Ministry spokesman, said at the time.

In addition, recent reports revealed the killing of Kikim Komalasari, another Indonesian maid, in Abha, Saudi Arabia. Her employer later dumped the woman's body into a garbage disposal. The body was found in November and showed that her neck was slashed and cuts were found throughout her body.

Earlier, during a meeting with several government leaders, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said there are at present a total of 3,271,584 Indonesian migrant workers overseas with 4,385 cases of maltreatment including acts of violence and sexual harassment.

"Some have been denied their salaries. Some are overworked, have personal problems, have fallen ill or even experienced physical and or sexual abuses," Yudhoyono said last year, as cited by local media. "The total number of these troubled migrant workers is 4,385."

"The percentage of maltreatment against our migrant workers is 0.01 percent but anyway we have to make sure they have protection and proper treatment in accordance with their working contracts," the Indonesian President added.

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