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PETALING JAYA: The Indonesian Consul General in Penang expressed dissatisfaction with today’s Court of Appeal decision to uphold the acquittal of Ambika MA Shan, accused of murdering her Indonesian maid two years ago.
“We respect the decision of the Malaysian Court of Appeal, but we are not satisfied with that decision, as it means that justice has not been served,” Bambang Suharto said in a statement to the FMT.
Bambang said they will wait for the Attorney General’s Office (AGC) to respond to the decision within 10 days.
“We believe that the AGC shares the same vision of finding justice for the late Adelina Lisao,” he said, referring to the deceased.
“The Indonesian government will continue its efforts to find justice for Adelina and her family.”
Adelina was found dead outside her employer’s home in Penang, her head and face swollen and covered in wounds in February 2018.
The case had sparked headlines and diplomatic tensions between Malaysia and Indonesia.
Ambika, her employer, was charged with murdering the 26-year-old domestic worker, who succumbed to multiple organ failure after alleged abuse at her home in Bukit Mertajam.
On April 19, 2019, the Penang High Court granted Ambika a full acquittal on the murder charge after the deputy prosecutor requested an exoneration that did not amount to an acquittal.
Today, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision to acquit Ambika, after a three-member court chaired by Yaacob Md Sam said there was no appealable error by trial judge Akhtar Tahir in releasing her under Section 254 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. (CPC).
“We are satisfied that the judge was right in exercising his power to acquit the accused,” he said, dismissing the prosecution’s appeal. Sitting with Yaacob were Abu Bakar Jais and Nordin Hassan.
Meanwhile, Glorene Das of Tenaganita expected prosecutors to re-indict Ambika, but under Section 304A of the Penal Code.
Under Section 304A, persons who cause the death of any person (by performing any reckless or negligent act that does not amount to wrongful death) will be punished with imprisonment of up to two years or a fine, or both.
“Adelina was abused so brutally and severely that her body could only succumb to death. They found her with serious head and face injuries, and infected wounds on her hands and legs.
“Tenaganita firmly believes that the only efficient way to eliminate serious abuse and exploitation of anyone is for the perpetrators to be prosecuted and imprisoned for a long period of time.
“We must end the climate of impunity that is provided to employers or other perpetrators, who abuse, cheat, severely harm and even carry out acts that lead to the death of domestic workers, without consequences for them.”
Alex Ong, an activist for Migrant CARE, said that Ambika’s acquittal was a “judicial error”, as it was due to technical and procedural processes related to problems in the investigation.
Adrian Pereira of the North South Initiative said the decision showed that Malaysia continued to have weak regulations and enforcement of domestic workers’ rights.
“Tragedies like this case will continue to happen. Malaysia clearly lacks the moral backbone to fix this problem, as the problem has existed for the past 30 years. We hope that the government will immediately develop legally applicable regulations for domestic workers, ”he said.
