11 Indonesians to be executed in Malaysia

[News_Editor]

11 Indonesians to be executed in Malaysia

2011-07-04 21:13:04 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Eleven Indonesian national have been recently sentenced to death due to illegal activities in Malaysia, officials said.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene told the Jakarta Post that all eleven had already appealed the decision to the Malaysian highest court, but their legal status was made final and are now awaiting execution. While 10 of them were convicted on drug possession and dealing, the other was charged for murder. All 11 people, reportedly migrant workers, are currently asking for amnesty from the Malaysian government.

In mid June, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said 233 nationals were facing possible death penalties in Malaysia, which represents 76.9 percent of death row cases abroad involving nationals.

Since 1999, a total of 303 Indonesians involved in criminal offenses abroad have faced the death penalty, three of them already executed, including migrant worker Ruyati binti Satubi, who was beheaded by sword last Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

Ruyati, 54, who had been working as a house maid, was beheaded after confessing to the murder of the wife of her employer. The family of Ruyati said it planned to sue the Indonesian government for its lack of legal assistance, but Coordinating Public Welfare Minister Agung Laksono said the government lacked options since Ruyati had confessed to the murder.

Indonesian Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar previously said that 22 out of 316 Indonesians held in Saudi Arabia are involved in legal cases that could lead to execution by beheading.

It is unknown how many executions are being carried out in Malaysia each year. Amnesty International said in a recent report that it was able to confirm that at least one execution was carried out in 2010, but indications are that other people were also executed.

In addition, at least 114 new death sentences were imposed in Malaysia last year. More than half of these were imposed for drug-related offenses, while nearly all the rest were handed down for murder. A guilty verdict for both offenses automatically means a death sentence in Malaysia, where executions are carried out by hanging.

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