Jakarta has transferred nearly SR7 million in blood money to save Indonesian migrant worker Satinah Binti Jumadi Ahmad, on death row for murdering her Saudi employer in 2009.
The case is likely to be settled within a few days after the Saudi and Indonesian governments stepped up efforts to save Satinah. Indonesian Embassy officials are tight-lipped on the case because of its “sensitivity.”
“Satinah can be spared the death penalty because we have transferred another SR2 million to the victims family,” said Gatot Abdullah Mansyur, former Indonesian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who currently heads the Jakarta-based National Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers Overseas.
This is in addition to the SR5 million that were previously given to the victim’s family. “The family will receive the money on Sunday because banks are closed in Saudi Arabia on Friday and Saturday,” said Mansyur.
Satinah, 40, from Semarang in Central Java, was found guilty of killing 70-year-old Nura Al-Gharib in the Qassim area in early 2009.
Migrants’ rights activists in Indonesia welcomed Saturday the decision to pay the blood money required to free Satinah.
“The government can no longer ignore the fact that saving a citizen is the country’s responsibility,” said Anis Hidayah, executive director of NGO Migrant Care, according to media reports. NGO Migrant Care welcomed the settlement deal.
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