INDONESIA: 12 CITIZENS RELEASED FROM DEATH ROW IN SAUDI ARABIA

The Foreign Ministry’s directorate of legal aid and protection of Indonesian nationals overseas said that throughout 2015, the government had secured the release of 12 Indonesian citizens from death sentences in Saudi Arabia, including domestic help Rika Mustikawati who had been given the death sentence for practicing witchcraft and later reduced to three-year imprisonment. Mustikawati is now ready to fly back home, thanks to the humanitarian justice system in Saudi Arabia and the efforts put in by the consulate.
With the recent release, the number of Indonesians freed from death row in Saudi Arabia since 2011 has reached 68 people. According to ministry records there are 24 Indonesian citizens currently at risk of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, whose legal processes are ongoing. Of the total, 12 people face murder charges, nine are on adultery charges and three face black magic charges.