"Banjar Five" Indonesians Released From Death Penalty In Saudi Arabia

Jakarta, June 3 (Antara) -- Five Indonesian migrant workers from Banjarmasin "Banjar Five," South Kalimantan, who were sentenced to death over a murder case in Saudi, were released by the court as they were granted forgiveness by the victim's family. The Foreign Affairs Ministry's Director of Indonesian Citizens and Legal Entities Lalu Muhammad Iqbal said during a press conference here on Wednesday night that they were granted forgiveness in 2014, but the repatriation process had to wait till 2015 as the court obligated the Indonesian government to pay 400 thousand Saudi Arabian riyal, which is some US$100 thousand dollars, as "diat" or monetary compensation. "The family did not ask for diat but the court did, considering the victim had a son," he remarked. Therefore, the Foreign Affairs Ministry coordinated with the local government of South Kalimantan to gather the compensation money, which was eventually taken from the local budget. The five Indonesian migrant workers, Saiful Mubarak, Sam'ani Muhammad, Muhammad Mursyidi, Ahmad Zizi Hartati, and Abdul Aziz Supiyani, aided by Muhammad Daham Arifin, killed Saudi Arabian Zubair bin Hafiz Ghul Muhammad in 2006. "He (Muhammad Daham Arifin) was just a facilitator who helped them buy cement to bury the victim without being aware of their intention," Iqbal explained. For his role, the court convicted Arifin with imprisonment for three and a half years in the General Prison of Mecca. After long and persistent efforts by the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the family of the victim eventually gave their forgiveness in 2014. Moreover, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi paid a courtesy call to the King of Saudi Arabia and met her Saudi Arabian counterpart to ask for the repatriation process of the Banjar Five to be expedited. With the release of the Banjar Five, the number of nationals the Indonesian government successfully freed from the death penalty in 2015 comes to 34, including 10 people in Saudi Arabia, 12 in Malaysia, 10 in China, and one each in Brunei and Thailand.