The Jakarta Post, Mataram -- The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) administration and relatives of an Indonesian migrant worker facing the death penalty in Kuching, East Malaysia, have urged the central government to provide legal aid for the defendant.
Edy Saputra, a 20-year-old from Simpang Kanir village, Seteluk, West Sumbawa, is being detained at Kuching prison and has been given the death penalty for murder. He has been in Malaysia since he was 14.
Head of the provincial manpower and transmigration office Imbang Sahruddin said Governor Serinata delivered an official letter to the Foreign Affairs Minister, Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and the Consulate-General in Kuching to hire lawyers to accompany the defendant in court sessions.
Edy's father, Muhammad Saleh, expressed his hope the government would help his son because he knew nothing about the case. He admitted, however, to receiving a diplomatic note last September informing him of his son's case but he did nothing in response at the time.
Imbang accompanied Saleh and his wife, Ondawati, to Kuching on Monday to give Edy moral support.
Edy is one of more than 20 Indonesian migrant workers facing the death penalty on murder and drug charges in Malaysia.
Imbang said, according to confidential sources, Edy was involved in a fatal clash with the owner of a house where he was hiding from his employer.
Malaysia last Saturday repatriated 41 migrant workers from the province for having no working documents or for having expired visas.
The 41 were part of 795 migrant workers deported by Malaysian authorities in the past three months.
A. Hakim, a 51-year-old deportee, said he was arrested for having no passport or working visa. He said before he and others were deported, they were detained for months.
"I entered Malaysia with a passport and working visa, which I later lost at work," he said.
The provincial administration gives deportees up to Rp 125,000 to go back to their home villages but is yet to take measures to prevent locals from entering Malaysia illegally.
Endang Susilowati, chairperson of the Panca Karsa Foundation providing advocacy for migrant workers, called on relevant authorities to simplify the complicated procedure and phase out red tapes so migrant workers with required documents could depart more easily.
Panca Nugraha
