Jakarta pays part of blood money to stop Saudis beheading maid for murder

Indonesia has agreed to pay US$1.9 million to stop the impending execution of an Indonesian maid, who is on death row in Saudi Arabia for murder, a minister said.

Satinah Binti Jumadi Ahmad was sentenced to death in 2011 for murdering her employer's wife and stealing money. She was due to be beheaded in the coming days.

Her case attracted huge media attention in Indonesia and there was a campaign in the past few weeks to stop the execution. Under Islamic sharia law followed in Saudi Arabia, the family of a victim can settle for "blood money" instead of an execution.

The family had demanded seven million riyal (US$1.9 million), but contributions from businesses and a group representing companies that send migrant workers abroad raised only four million riyal.

Indonesian Security Minister Djoko Suyanto said in Jakarta that the government had agreed to provide the remaining three million. "We have agreed to fulfil the family's demands," he said. "This will help to save Satinah from the death penalty."

The victim's family had initially asked for 15 million riyals but agreed to lower it, he said.