Islam recognizes capital punishment: Scholar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Islam recognizes capital punishment as a means
\nof upholding justice and protecting the rights of the people, one
\nof Indonesia's foremost Islamic scholar says.<\/p>\n
Ali Yafie, a professor at the Institute of Koranic Science,
\nsaid capital punishment is an acceptable punishment in Islam for
\ncertain crimes, murder in particular.<\/p>\n
Yafie also explained that the religion recognizes kisas, or
\nequal justice, which permits the heirs of a murder victim to ask
\nthe court to take the life of the murderer.<\/p>\n
Similarly, a person who, during an assault, loses a part of
\nhis body, a hand for example, could ask the court to take one of
\nthe assailant's hands, Yafie told the Antara news agency.<\/p>\n
Islamic criminal law allows for the court to mete out
\npunishment equal to the crime committed, he explained.<\/p>\n
His comment came amidst a renewed debate on capital punishment
\nfollowing this week's execution of a former army sergeant major
\nin Palu, Central Sulawesi, who was convicted for a quadruple
\nmurder in 1985.<\/p>\n
Following the execution of Kacong Laranu, human rights
\nadvocates renewed their demand to abolish capital punishment, the
\nmaximum penalty for murder, drug trafficking and subversion.<\/p>\n
Malaysian<\/p>\n
A Malaysian who was convicted of drug trafficking in 1986,
\nSteven Chan, was also executed in Jakarta on Jan. 13 but the
\nauthorities managed to conceal the news from the press until last
\nweek. Steven's relatives in Malaysia, however, were informed.<\/p>\n
The anti-capital punishment lobby is arguing that the death
\nsentence is cruel, inhuman and vindictive and goes against the
\nprinciple that court punishment is meant to rehabilitate.<\/p>\n
Government officials defended capital punishment as an
\neffective crime deterrence and stressed that the human rights of
\nthe victim are considered paramount to the rights of the
\ncriminal.<\/p>\n
Yafie said the principle of kisas in murder cases is found in
\nverse 178 of Surat Albaqoroh in the Koran. The principle is also
\nmentioned in relation to assault with bodily harm in verse 45 of
\nSurat Al Maidah.<\/p>\n
Further in verse 33 of Surat Al-Isra, it is stipulated that
\nthe right to demand for capital punishment in murder cases lies
\nin the hands of the victim's heirs, he said.<\/p>\n
But Islamic law stipulates strongly that the court must prove
\nthat the crime has unequivocally been committed.<\/p>\n
Yafie said in the case of murder, the court needs at least two
\neyewitnesses to the crime.<\/p>\n
In the case of assault with bodily harm, although the victim
\nhas the right not to press charges, he added, the state should
\nstill pursue the case if it is in the interest of the general
\npublic. In such a case, the court will decide on the proper
\npunishment.<\/p>\n
He also said that Islamic law recognizes the right of all
\ncrime victims, or their heirs, to waive their claim to kisas and
\nsettle for compensation instead.<\/p>\n
Asked for his own personal opinion on capital punishment,
\nYafie responded: \"Why not. Even the United States has it.\"<\/p>\n
People who suggest that capital punishment is cruel and
\ninhuman are missing the point that the act of murder was itself
\ninhuman.<\/p>\n
He recognized, however, that Indonesia's court procedures have
\nbeen slow and that this had allowed people on death row to win
\nsympathy. \"I think we still need to improve the way the court
\nworks.\"<\/p>\n
Deplore<\/p>\n
Amnesty International, the London-based human rights
\norganization, issued a statement yesterday deploring the two
\nexecutions that recently took place in Indonesia. It added that
\nit feared for the fate of the many others on death row, including
\npolitical prisoners.<\/p>\n
\"Fears for prisoners on death row in Indonesia have been
\ngreatly heightened by the news that two executions have taken
\nplace in the country since the beginning of 1995,\" Amnesty said
\nin a statement quoted by Reuters.<\/p>\n
Amnesty said Indonesia had executed at least 30 people since
\n1985, 27 of them political prisoners. Six men accused of having
\ncommunist or subversive links in the 1960s and dozens of other
\ncriminals are presently on death row. (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/islam-recognizes-capital-punishment-scholar-1447893297",
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