SBY protests Ruyati execution in letter to Saudi king

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sent a letter of protest to Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdul Azis via Saudi Ambassador to Indonesia Abdulrahman Mohamed Amen Al-Khayyat during a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday, an official says.

Presidential special staff on international affairs Teuku Faizasyah said that Yudhoyono had asked the Saudi government learn a lesson from the execution case of Ruyati binti Satubi, an Indonesian maid who was beheaded in Saudi Arabia.

“The President asked that this become a record incident in the relationship between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. In the future, he [the President] requires a communication mechanism that puts attention to international decorum,” Teuku was quoted as saying by tempointeraktif.com on Tuesday.

Teuku said that during the 30-minute meeting, the Saudi ambassador promised to pass on the letter to his king.

“We expect a response to the letter of protest,” he said.

Ruyati was executed after being found guilty of killing the wife of her Saudi employer, Khairiya binti Hamid Mijlid.

The Saudi embassy in Jakarta in its press release earlier accused Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa of lying when he said the former had apologized for and regretted the beheading of Ruyati.