REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, YOGYAKARTA - Indonesian government continues to negotiate for Sutinah, a woman migrant worker who had received death sentence from Saudi Arabian court for murder and robbery, the amends of which amounts to an unreasonable 25 billion IDR.

"The Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been negotiating with the victim's family, since it is impossible and unreasonable to ask 25 billion IDR as amends," Coordinating Minister of Political Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto stated on Monday. Suyanto explained at a press conference, through its embassy in Riyadh, has been involved with Sutinah's case since it entered the legal process.

"The Indonesian government has been lobbying with the government of Saudi Arabia and the family of the victim to ease Sutinah's legal process," Suyanto pointed out.

The efforts included an appeal and President Yudhoyono's letter to the king of Saudi Arabia that finally gained a result of remission for Sutinah. But, according to the Saudi Arabian law, the most important key to release Sutinah from the death sentence would be the victims family's pardon.

"This is the main obstacle as even though the government has given its remission but it still requires 100 percent forgiveness from the victim's family," Suyanto reiterated.

Thus far, the special team that was created by the government to handle the legal processes for Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, has also frequently visited the victim's family to negotiate the value as amends for Sutinah, but the family insists on getting 25 billion IDR.

"Conventionally, the amends was valued about 100 to 150 camels or about 1.5 billion IDR to 2 billion IDR," Suyanto pointed out.

Suyanto stressed that the Indonesian government did not agree to the amends for Sutinah as it was a commodity to gain personal profit and had asked the public to understand Sutinah's case thoroughly and the efforts that had been put by the government to ease her sentence.

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