178 Indonesian nationals are facing the death penalty in Malasyia, with the trials of 167 underway.

“Most were involved in drugs cases. The rest were charged with murder and firearm possession,” Mulya Wirana, the Indonesian Embassy’s deputy ambassador said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.


Mulya said the embassy would defend all Indonesian citizens in Malaysia. The embassy is currently seeking clemency for 11 Indonesians who have been sentenced to death by hanging. “The embassy is still updating the status of the 11 nationals,” he said, declining to identify them by name.


Pressure to protect Indonesian migrant workers has increased following the recent beheading of Indonesian national Ruyati binti Satubi in Saudi Arabia.


In response, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono formed the Indonesian Migrant Workers Task Force to handle cases of Indonesian migrant workers facing the death sentence abroad.


Former Nahdlatul Ulama chairman, Hasyim Muzadi, urged Yudhoyono to manage the cases first hand and lamented the establishment of the task force. “Migrant worker protection is a sensitive matter, even more than political and economic affairs. When it concerns the lives of our citizens overseas, that is about honor,” he said.