Minister Strongly Protests Execution of Tursilawati in Saudi Arabia

Jakarta, MINA — Indonesian Minister of Manpower M. Hanif Dhakiri strongly protested the recent execution of Indonesian female migrant worker Tuti Tursilawati in Saudi Arabia last Monday, Antara News reported.

The minister has expressed regret over the recent execution of Tursilawati in Saudi Arabia without first informing the Indonesian Government.

“We strongly protest the execution without notifying the Indonesian government,” Hanif Dhakiri said in an official statement received here on Wednesday.

The Indonesian Government, he noted, has provided maximum legal assistance by appealing against Tursilawati`s death sentence both in court and in a letter to the Saudi Arabian King.

Tursilawati was sentenced to death in 2011 on charges of deliberately killing the father of her employer Suud Mulhak Al Utaibi in 2010.

Tursilawati`s mother had recalled telling her during a meeting in April 2018 that she had killed the father of her employer after he attempted to sexually abuse her.

Deputy Chairperson of the House of Representatives Commission IX, Ermalena, earlier said that Saudi Arabia has violated the 1961 Vienna Convention by executing female migrant worker, Tuty Tursilawati, without notifying the Indonesian government.

“The Saudi Arabian government has clearly violated the obligation to give notice and consular access,” Ermalena stated, when contacted in Jakarta, on Wednesday.

The United Development Party (PPP) politician noted that the government of Saudi Arabia should have given information to Indonesia regarding Tursilawati`s execution.

Therefore, the House of Representatives Commission IX will question and seek an explanation from the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the issue.

Commission IX will call for the details on the last attempts made by the government against Indonesian citizens who happen to have problems abroad.

“This incident has created concern among us. We have conveyed our deepest condolences to the family,” he explained. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)