(Jakrta Post) After Zaenab, RI regrets execution of Karni

12/12/2018

Barely a day after news hit that the Saudi Arabian government had carried out the execution of an Indonesian worker without prior notice to family members and the Indonesian government, another Indonesian was executed for an unpardonable crime.

The head of the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), Nusron Wahid, said he regretted the lack of notification from Saudi Arabia to Indonesia before the execution of migrant worker Karni binti Medi Tarsim on Thursday morning Saudi time.

“There isn’t a formal rule which states that if a foreigner is to be executed, their country of origin should be informed beforehand. But the proper etiquette would hope that was done,” Nusron said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said that following the recent execution, the ministry summoned the Saudi Arabian ambassador to hand over a diplomatic note elaborating on Indonesia’s disappointment about the abrupt execution of Karni and the lack of any notification.

“What we are most disappointed about is the fact that we were not notified about the time and place of [Karni’s] execution. According to [Saudi] Arabian law, it is not compulsory that they give notification,” Arrmanatha said on Thursday. “We can only try and assist the families of the executed to [travel to] Saudi Arabia so that they can pay their respects.”

In comparison, Indonesia, which also practices capital punishment, is obliged to notify a person on death row three days prior to his or her execution.

Karni’s execution comes only a few days after the execution of another Indonesian migrant worker, Siti Zaenab, who received the death penalty in 2001 after the 1999 murder of her employer.

According to Arrmanatha, following the execution of Siti Zaenab, which also occurred without prior notification, a government-deployed task force from the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah had decided on Wednesday to keep watch on two prisons, Medina and Yanbu, where Indonesian nationals are sent to be executed.

The spokesperson acknowledged that the government was aware the two Indonesians were on death row and that their punishment could be meted out at any moment. “Even their families knew of this since they paid a visit at the end of March,” he said.

Both former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had previously sent letters of appeal for both cases, leading to the postponement of the sentence in 2015. “But we had little leeway too, as the Saudi king came under pressure from the public to hasten the sentences, especially for Karni,” Director of the protection of Indonesian citizens and legal entities Lalu Muhammad Iqbal said.

“We had a feeling that Karni would follow not long after Siti’s sentence was completed, due to the seriousness of her crime.” Karni was sentenced to death in 2013 after killing her employer’s four-year-old child in her sleep in 2012.

As a consequence of the Saudi government’s actions, the Indonesian envoy for Saudi Arabia has been recalled from his post, Arrmanatha said.

According to ministry estimates, there are currently 26 Indonesian nationals on death row in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/04/17/ri-regrets-execution-another-worker.html

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(Jakrta Post) After Zaenab, RI regrets execution of Karni