Saudi Arabia executes Indonesian woman with suspected mental illness convicted of stabbing female employer to death in 1999

Amnesty, which previously called on King Salman to put an end to Saudi's 'shameful record', said the execution 'smacks of a basic lack of humanity'

Saudi new King Salman stands during the arrival of US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on January 27, 2015 (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia has drawn criticism from human rights advocates following the execution of an Indonesian woman with a suspected mental illness sentenced to death more than 15 years ago after she was convicted of stabbing her employer to death.

Siti Zainab Binti Durhi Rupa was sentenced to death in November 1999 after she admitted while in police custody to killing her female employer.

The employer had allegedly mistreated Siti Zainab after hiring her to work as a maid a year earlier, Amnesty International has said.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Interior this week said Siti Zainab had been executed in Madinah on 14 April, according to the Saudi Gazette.

Reports of the execution have come after Amnesty warned in March that the rate of executions in Saudi Arabia had reached "unprecedented" levels following the execution of four criminals in two days.

The charity said those state-sanctioned deaths had taken the tally of executions in Saudi Arabia to 39 – almost three times the equivalent number for the same time last year.

At the time, Amnesty's Saudi Arabia researcher Sevag Kechichian told The Independent: "Saudi Arabia already has one of the highest rates of execution in the world, including for non-offences like 'apostasy' and 'sorcery'.

"King Salman should put an end to this shameful record and impose a moratorium on executions in Saudi Arabia with immediate effect."

Responding to the latest execution, Philip Luther, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Programme Director, said: "Imposing the death penalty and executing someone with a suspected mental illness smacks of a basic lack of humanity.

"This practice has been widely condemned on the world stage and Saudi Arabia should take this opportunity to reconsider its stance on the death penalty."

Prior to her arrest, Siti Zainab reportedly sent two letters claiming her employer and her employer's son had been cruel to her, Amnesty has said.

The human rights organisation went on to say she confessed to the killing under police interrogation.

A statement on the organisation's website reads: "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'."

It has also been claimed police suspected she was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the interrogation.

The state had waited for the victim's children to grow up before deciding whether Siti Zainab could be pardoned by the family, it has been reported.