W

e may file a harsh objection with the Saudi government or perhaps go so far as to withdraw our ambassador in Riyadh in a show of anger at the recent execution of Indonesian migrant worker Siti Zaenab, who was sentenced to death for killing her employer in 1999.

But the execution of the 47-year-old Indonesian woman is precisely what Jakarta did to six drug convicts, including five foreign nationals, in January. In the process, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo rejected last-ditch pleas from the Dutch and Brazilian leaders and went ahead with the executions. Diplomatic ties between Indonesia and Brazil turned sour after that, with Brasilia recalling its envoy from Jakarta.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry expressed regret that the beheading of Siti was carried without prior notice to the ministry or her family and that the convict was mentally ill when she was executed. But Saudi Arabia perhaps had a reason for ignoring Indonesia'€™s long-standing attempts to save Siti, which dated back to 2000, the same way the Indonesian government turned a deaf ear to domestic and global pressure to commute the sentences of foreigners on death row.

The Saudi kingdom was enforcing its national law, sharia, in which death row convicts can escape execution only if they are pardoned by the families of their victims. President Jokowi, like his predecessors, justified the execution of six drug convicts and has given no signs of calling off the planned executions of 10 death row inmates as part of strict law enforcement.

Therefore, Jokowi and whoever supports the death penalty in the country can do nothing but respect the prevailing law in Saudi Arabia, simply because they do not want other countries to disrespect Indonesian law.

Either beheading, which many call cruel and uncivilized, or the use of a firing squad, capital punishment has been maintained in many countries on the grounds that it effectively deters people from committing such crimes, although some studies have found no correlation between the two.

The Criminal Code upholds execution as a punishment even though the Netherlands, Indonesia'€™s former master from which it inherited its criminal justice system, scrapped the practice in 1983. As long as the death sentence remains an integral part of our national law and we believe it can serve as an effective deterrent, opposition to the execution of Indonesian nationals following the due process of law overseas only reflects inconsistency.

The state, however, is responsible for exhausting all attempts to spare the lives of Indonesians on death row. In some cases, diplomatic efforts, including by the President, have paid off, but as former foreign minister Marty Natalegawa once pointed out, our acceptance of the death penalty has made it difficult for us to defend our citizens on death row abroad.

With nearly 300 Indonesian nationals facing execution overseas, it is possible that they will follow in the footsteps of Siti Zaenab sooner or later. The public debate on whether Indonesia should drop or maintain the death penalty will continue anyway, but Saudi Arabia has taught us a lesson.