Everybody will meet his or her death. When death is in front of one’s eyes, but it is not known when life will really be removed from the body, the situation is a deep suffering that is gravely disturbs one’s humanity.
By
SONYA HELLEN SINOMBOR
·5 minutes read
DOKUMENTASI/KOMNAS PEREMPUAN
Merry Utami, a woman on death row from Sukoharjo, Central Java, spends her days in prison sewing. For more than 20 years he was imprisoned without knowing when he would be executed.
That has been the inner torture borne by Merry Utami, a female death row inmate from Sukoharjo, Central Java, for decades.
For more than two decades, Merry has moved from one prison to another without knowing when the end of her life will be. Every morning she wakes up in the shadow of execution.
In 2023, Merry entered her 22nd year of life behind bars. For nearly half of her life she has lived in prison.
At the beginning of this year, precisely on 30 January 2023, the mother of two children will reach 48 years of age. Taking care of the dream to gather again with family, especially with her daughter who is now married, is the source of her strength. In the past, she had to leave her children when they were toddlers.
While Merry was in prison, her first child died of heart disease. At that time, she did not get permission to attend the funeral of her child. She was also not given the opportunity to watch her daughter's marriage ceremony.
"We will all die. But, I hope, I will get a chance to gather with my family. I really want to sleep with my children and grandchildren," Merry said when met by a member of the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) at the Class IIA Correctional Institution for Women in Semarang, Central Java, on Wednesday (21/12/2022).
Spiritual activities keep her strong to survive her endless inner torture. When she had first arrived at the Semarang penitentiary, she heard the painful words when an officer asked, "How come she's not yet executed?"
Arrested
About 22 years ago, precisely 31 October 2001, Merry was arrested at Soekarno-Hatta Airport because she was found carrying a heroin-type drug weighing 1.1 kilograms in the bag of who she considered her male friend named Jerry, who she had met while working in Taiwan.
To law enforcement officials, Merry repeatedly expresses that she was just a victim who was deceived by Jerry. Merry was tricked by Jerry, a man who claimed to be a Canadian citizen who often did business in Indonesia.
DOKUMENTASI/KOMNAS PEREMPUAN
Merry Utami (far right) a woman on death row from Sukoharjo, Central Java, when met by members of the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) at Class II A Women's Penitentiary (Lapas) Semarang, Central Java, Thursday (21/12/2022).
Merry did not think that the bag she was carrying contained drugs. Jerry said that the leather bag was an example of a bag that would be traded in Indonesia. Merry was then tried and sentenced to death by the panel of judges at the Tangerang District Court (PN) on 20 May 2002. She then appealed at the Bandung High Court on 18 July 2002, but failed.
Muhammad Afif, Merry's lawyer from the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBHM), revealed that the situation faced by Merry when arrested was classified as vulnerable because she was easily manipulated or deceived, including being lured by material due to socioeconomic inequality or power relations with Jerry. Even, Merry's act is high risk because she could fall into human trafficking as well as the illegal trafficking of narcotics.
In October 2022, Merry and her legal team submitted a request for the 12th review. However, until now there has been no response from the Supreme Court.
Inhumane
The sentence that Merry lives for more than two decades is considered inhumane. According to Afif, Merry undergoes layered suffering. On the one hand, she will face the execution and on the other hand a prison sentence with a duration that exceeds prison sentence which is applied to general criminal cases.
The layered punishment tortures Merry who is always in the shadow of the execution. Every time her life is threatened. The situation is a concrete form of psychological punishment, which is formally not read by Indonesia's positive law.
"During her time as a fostered member in prison, she behaved well in the hope of getting forgiveness. Does the state still continue to place criminal law as revenge after 22 years Merry lives in prison? "
It's been 22 years Mama has been jailed. What other punishment should Mama live?
Professor of the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia, Sulistyowati Irianto said in a number of her studies she found that women were often involved in the illicit chain of narcotics by trapping them in the mode of being made as friends and promised marriage, as experienced by Merry.
Merry's continuous uncertain fate has moved the public. In 2020, an online petition was opened for her through Change.org. As of Tuesday (17/1/2023), the petition with the title "Clemency for Merry Utami: Save Merry from injustice" has received as many as 77,657 signatures.
Waiting for the return of Mama is a prayer that is said all the time by Devi Christa, Merry Utami's daughter. "It's been 22 years Mama has been jailed. What other punishment should Mama live? This is no longer a punishment, but torture," Devi said.
With a hope that never extinguishes, Devi and Merry never stop praying, hopefully the miracle of the request for clemency being submitted will be granted.
