By Nicola Smith, The Telegraph
Indonesia has filed an official protest to Saudi Arabia after it executed an Indonesian maid without notifying its consular staff or her family.
Tuti Tursilawati, a mother of one, had been convicted of murdering her employer, who workers rights’ group Migrant Care said was trying to rape her at the time.
Joko Widodo, the Indonesian president, criticised Saudi Arabia’s action on Wednesday, saying that his government had demanded better protection of Indonesian workers in the country.
“We have called Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister and conveyed our protest,” Mr Widodo was quoted as saying by the office of his cabinet secretary.
Ms Tursilawati, who was convicted in 2011, was executed on Monday in the city of Thaif, marking the fourth such case of Saudi Arabia carrying out the death sentence on an Indonesian migrant worker without prior notice in the past three years. Eighteen more Indonesians remain on death row.
The controversy over her death comes at a time when Saudi Arabia continues to face harsh questions over the brutal murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its consulate in Istanbul.
Indonesia’s frustration has been heightened by the timing of the execution, which was carried out less than a week after Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, met with his counterpart in Jakarta to discuss migrant workers rights.
During the meeting, Retno Marsudi, the Indonesia’s foreign minister, stressed the need for mandatory consular notification before any capital punishment of Indonesian citizens.
“[The execution] is evidence that Saudi Arabia does not fulfil the terms and conditions pertaining to the protection of domestic workers,” Wahyu Susilo, executive director of Migrant Care told Australia’s ABC news channel.
Saudi Arabia remains the world’s biggest destination for Indonesian maids after the government lifted an earlier ban on domestic workers going to the Middle East over reports of torture and abuse.
Many Indonesians took to social media to protest Ms Tursilawati’s execution.
“Tuti Tursilawati case again demonstrates the weak protection of human rights in Saudi Arabia,” said Fina, an Indonesian student on Twitter.
“Bring justice for our country, our people!” said another protestor.
The Saudi ambassador to Indonesia has been summoned by the authorities but the Saudi embassy has not commented publicly.
“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has ignored principles of human rights, including a right for everyone to live,” said Abidin Fikri, a member of Indonesia’s parliament, told Reuters.
- The Telegraph