Bali Nine

smiddy

Their are two Australian guys scheduled for execution in Indonesia in the very near future for drug smuggling , they were the ring leaders of seven others involved.This happened a number of years ago when the Australian authourities notified their Indonesian counterparts that drugs were to be smuggled out of Indonesia into Australia by Australian citizens .

Some argue , why didn` t the Australian authourities simply arrest these people on arrival in Australia where no capital punishment is on the agenda .

By all accounts they have now been on death row for many years and have turned their lives around , being role models to other prisoners and changing their lives .

I personally have mixed feelings about all this and would like your input .

Should these two be executed ?

or

Should they spend the rest of their life in an Indonesian jail

or

should they be given an alternative sentence .?

or is their a third option , I haven`t thought about.

I appreciate your feedback on what I think is a worldwide problem and how to deal with it .

smiddy

jhine

Smiddy ,

two things come to mind straight away , the guys knew the penalty if caught on Indonesian soil but took the risk anyway .

The Ausie authorities maybe a) did not want the bother or cost of a trial and keeping these two in jail

b) want to encourage co-operation with the Indonesians in future so gave them the info in a quid pro quo arrangement .

Do you feel that they should be treated more leniently now because of good behaviour as in British prisons ?

I am not sure , it always depends on the severity of the crime , child killers ,for example , are sentenced with no hope of early release. Maybe there is a case for a judge to look again at this and take all these facts under consideration .

Jan

davidmitchell

I was brought up as anti-death penalty advocate and in the 1990s, I wrote to several men on death row in America to befriend them, this included one who was later executed.
I think what changed my opinion - a little - was my growing awareness of the violent nature of some murders and that some victims were not only murdered but tortured as well. The problem that clouded the issue for me was how people were executed and how this was fast becoming a circus, i.e, the recent problem with America not being able to obtain the required toxic ingredients to carry out executions by 'lethal injection'.
So many executions have beene 'botched' whether by hanging, shooting, gassing, electrocution or lethal injection, and this results in the process making the authorities appear incompetent and not in control.
I have come to the conclusion that murder should mean life imprisonment and that 'life' should mean 'life' and any privileges in prison, not matter how small, should be earned.
In the case of particularly brutal or multiple murders, then sadly, the punishment should be death by the most humane means and carried out as quickly as possible (in the UK, I believe that when there were executions, these had to be carrried out within a month of the sentence).

There is the further problem that the wealthy who murder can and do get off with just a term of imprisonment because of being able to hire clever lawyers, while the poor person gets the death penalty for the same crime.

In the case of the men in indonesia, I cannot believe that execution is appropriate for what they allegedly did. 25-40 years' imprisonment is more appropriate. Remember that with capital punishment, the punishment ends when death occurs, but with long-term imprisonment, the punishment lasts.

The Searcher

I've never once stepped off a high building, because I know how punitive & unforgiving the law is - the law of gravity!

Indonesia - drugs? That's too high a building to risk stepping off!

finally awake

I don't believe that the death penalty is an appropriate sentence for any crime except murder. I also don't believe that taking, selling, manufacturing or otherwise engaging in the drug trade should be illegal anyway. I do however accept that other countries are free to make laws as they see fit, and I am free to not visit those places. It was crappy of the Australian government to manipulate the situation the way they did, but the men involved knew the risks and therefore are to blame for their own predicament.

Kanon

I am anti-death penalty in almost all cases, exceptions would be in more brutal senseless killing, cop killing and the odd cause were the person desires to die (if he is mentally competent).

But for drug trafficking, big no. Sorry to say the only way to end the drug problem is to kill the demand. Harsh penalties really do nothing to even hinder it.

joe134cd

I have visited Bali and drugs are pretty much freely available (well at least the lower end). On saying that however I like to think of cause and effect. It's very well known the position on drugs in Indonesia, and they took the risk fully knowing this. If you think of the thief who was hanging on the stake (sorry for my JWism. I can't help it) next to Jesus. Sure he to was sorry for what he had done and wanted to turn his life around that's why he asked Jesus to remember him in paradise. But this didn't elevate him from responsibility. He was found guilty under Roman law of a crime and death was the punishment.

Simon

I have little sympathy for anyone who knowingly violates laws to make easy money. Get a job, work hard, pay taxes - like the rest of us.

Whether it deserves the death penalty is a separate issue. It is of course a severe punishment but then the crime does deal in human misery and often funds other trafficking and crime.

But don't do the crime if you can't do the time or don't want to face the consequences.

davidmitchell

Simon: Get a job, work hard, pay taxes - like the rest of us.

But some people cannot do this - poor education (not through their own choosing), illness/disability, lack of jobs or getting into major debt. These situations certainly do not excuse anyone commiting crime, but the neat row of options that you present is not as easy as you make out.

smiddy

Thank you for your input folks ,

Many young people and not so young , foolishly experiment with drugs and become addicted , often times with the result of their own death.Their is also the untold misery that the family is put through coping with their addiction.

So people supplying and distributing drugs can themselves be putting a death sentence on others .

What has surprised me is that Indonesia pleads for the life of their own citizens facing the death penalty in foreign lands.

smiddy

Bali Nine

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