'Yudhoyono must personally shield Indonesians from dead sentences abroad'

Rieke Diah Pitaloka

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must personally protect Indonesians threatened by dead sentences in Malaysia, a legislator says.

“I want the President to make himself literally as a human shield to protect and to save the lives of Indonesians in Malaysia. He [Yudhoyono] must no longer only tell his aides on what to do, he must personally meet as the highest authority with the Malaysian leader to resolve this issue,” Rieke Diah Pitaloka from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) told a press conference at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Friday.

Rieke said that she could not understand why Yudhoyono had yet to take any firm measure despite his authority as a President to save Indonesians from being executed.

“Former president Gus Dur [also known as Abdurahman Wahib] managed to press the Malaysian government to pardon an Indonesian threatened by dead penalty in the past, regardless of the fact that he was no longer president back then,” Rieke said.

“Why can’t our President do the same with his authority,” she added.

Three hundred and forty-five Indonesian migrant workers are facing the death sentence in Malaysia, according to the nongovernmental organization Sabang-Merauke Circle.