All Indonesian prisoners in S. Arabia to be released except murderers

Ina Parlina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 04/17/2011

The Law and Human Rights Ministry says its request to the Saudi Arabian government to free all 316 Indonesian prisoners in the country was granted.

“The Saudi government agreed to soon release all 316 Indonesian prisoners,” Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said Sunday during a teleconference from the Indonesian consulate general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The minister is currently in Saudi Arabia to officially deliver a request to acquit Indonesian citizens who have been convicted in 12 of Saudi Arabia’s 13 provinces.

The ministry said 316 Indonesians, most of them migrant workers, were serving prison sentences of between one and 12 years for various offenses, including theft. Of the total, 212 were convicted in Riyadh, followed by 32 in the Eastern Province.

The Saudi government, however, refused to release 23 Indonesian prisoners on death row.

“They said the 23 Indonesian convicts did not deserve to be released,” Patrialis said.