She had no legal representation at any stage and did not have access to a consular representative during the police interrogation when she had made her “confession”. According to reports, the police suspected that she suffered from mental illness at the time of the interrogation.
The Indonesian government has issued a statement protesting against the Saudi Arabian authorities’ failure to notify them or Siti Zainab’s family before carrying out her execution.
In Amnesty International’s 2014 global report on the death penalty, released earlier this month, Saudi Arabia once again ranks among the top five executioners in the world. So far in 2015, Saudi Arabia has executed at least 60 people, most of them by beheading. This compares with 90 executions in all of 2014.
“Whatever the misguided purpose behind Saudi Arabia’s shocking spike in executions so far this year, it should draw international condemnation. The Kingdom’s authorities must halt this execution spree and establish an official moratorium on the use of the death penalty,” said Philip Luther.