Indonesian gov't couldn't stop Saudi execution of migrant worker, minister says

[News_Editor]

Indonesian gov't couldn't stop Saudi execution of migrant worker, minister says

2011-06-20 02:11:31 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA (BNO NEWS) -- A senior minister on Sunday denied that the Indonesian government failed to protect an Indonesian migrant worker who was recently executed in Saudi Arabia.

According to the Jakarta Post, Coordinating Public Welfare Minister Agung Laksono said the government lacked options since Ruyati binti Saboti had confessed to the murder. "It's not that the government did not provide protection. It is the law over there. Such a punishment can be applied if the family of the victim does not grant an apology," he said.

A Saudi court previously sentenced Ruyati, 54, to death by beheading after she admitted to having murdered the wife of her employer. Agung said the victim's family rejected a clemency plea made by the Indonesian consulate in Jeddah.

The family of Ruyati said it plans to sue the Indonesian government for its lack of legal assistance. "We are truly disappointed with the government for not caring about an Indonesian migrant worker in legal trouble," Ruyati's daughter Evi Purwati said. "I was shocked to learn that my mother had been executed. I received the news from Migrant Care. Even the government does not know anything about the execution."

Meanwhile, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his condolences over the death of the migrant worker, who was beheaded on Saturday. "The President is concerned and is truly saddened by what happened to Ruyati," presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said Sunday. "The President instructed ministries involved to provide legal assistance to migrant workers that are facing legal cases."

Migrant Care, an NGO that focuses on the welfare of Indonesian workers abroad, will hold a mass prayer on Monday for Ruyati.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-06-20