Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – Saudi Arabian authorities have executed two Indonesian citizens on Thursday morning Jeddah time on charges of premeditated murder against a fellow Indonesian citizen.
This was stated by the Director of Protection of Indonesian Citizens and Indonesian Legal Entities (PWNI & BHI) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Judha Nugraha, in a press briefing which was attended from Jakarta, Thursday.
Judha said that the executions had been carried out on two Indonesian citizens, namely Agus Ahmad Arwas (AA) alias Iwan Irawan Empud Arwas and Nawali Hasan Ihsan (NH) alias Ato Suparto bin Data.
“Information about the execution plan of AA and NH was received by the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah the day before through a lawyer for the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah,” he said.
According to Judha, the two Indonesian citizens were previously sentenced to death based on a legal decision on June 16, 2013 in the first instance trial, then again received a death sentence at the appeal trial on March 19, 2018. The status of the verdict was then declared inkracht on October 19, 2018.
On June 2, 2011, AA and NH, Siti Komariah (SK) were arrested by the Jeddah police on charges of killing another Indonesian citizen, Fatmah alias Wartinah, who was found dead. There were signs of physical and sexual violence found on the victim.
The three then went on trial on charges of premeditated murder. AA and NH admitted that they had committed the murder on the grounds of revenge for the abuse committed by the victim against NH’s ex-wife.
“In the case of AA and NH, the death penalty was made stronger because of the confessions from both of them. Law in Saudi Arabia places the defendant’s confession as strong evidence, next to other evidence and witnesses,” said Judha.
Meanwhile, SK received a sentence of eight years in prison and 800 lashes.
During the legal process, since the beginning of the trial, the government has taken various steps of assistance, especially through the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah and the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh.
Various steps at a number of stages of trial and non-litigation were taken to ensure the fulfillment of the defendant’s rights and reduce the sentence, including assisting the investigation process in the police four times, accompanying the trial 10 times, appointing a lawyer, direct investigations to the relevant legal apparatus 14 times, submitting an appeal memorandum. twice, submission of review once through a lawyer, and consular visits to prison 39 times.
Meanwhile diplomatic steps have also been taken during the process, namely sending diplomatic notes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia more than 9 times, sending personal letters from the Indonesian Ambassador in Riyadh and the Indonesian Consul General in Jeddah to the Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Justice, and Putra The crown of Saudi Arabia, the sending of the Foreign Minister’s letter to the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister and the sending of the Indonesian President’s Personal Letter to the King of Saudi Arabia which were carried out twice.
“Until the last moment before the execution, all communication lines at high levels have been carried out in order to get leniency,” said Judha.
After the execution, the Indonesian Ambassador in Riyadh and the Indonesian Consul General in Jeddah also accompanied the process of remembrance and burial of the bodies of the two Indonesian citizens, considering that local law requires the bodies to be buried immediately in Saudi Arabia.
Communications to the families of AA and NH have also been carried out, where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveyed execution information directly to the families and facilitated communication. (mhn/ojn/bbs)
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