Pronouncement of death sentence sparks controversy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The recent pronouncement of another death
\nsentence has revived the controversy of the sentence, especially
\namong human rights advocates.<\/p>\n
A former director general of correctional institutions at the
\nMinistry of Justice, Baharuddin Lopa, now the secretary-general
\nof the National Commission on Human Rights, is a known advocate
\nof preserving the death sentence.<\/p>\n
He said yesterday at the commission's office that the country
\nstill needed the death sentence.<\/p>\n
\"Ideally, no one should get the death sentence, but should we
\nlet a sadistic killer live?\" he asked.<\/p>\n
In the 1980s, Baharuddin was among those who staunchly voiced
\nsupport for the death sentence, opposed to prominent human rights
\nadvocates and lawyers grouped in the Hapus Hukuman Mati (ban
\ncapital punishment) group.<\/p>\n
\"The death sentence protects people. It aims to prevent other
\npeople repeating (the same crime). So a death sentence is
\neducational in the sense that it teaches people not to the same
\nthing.<\/p>\n
\"If we don't apply the death sentence, people can do the same
\nthing again, knowing that a previous crime did not earn the death
\nsentence.<\/p>\n
\"We must observe the methods of those who kill some 40 women
\nor kill more than one person,\" Baharuddin said, referring to a
\nrecent shaman's confession in Medan, North Sumatra, that he
\nkilled 43 women to improve his supernatural powers.<\/p>\n
Harnoko Dewantono, alias Oki, 32, was given the death sentence
\nTuesday after the Central Jakarta District Court found him guilty
\nof killing an Indian businessman, a female friend and his younger
\nbrother. His lawyers have appealed the sentence.<\/p>\n
Last week in a trial against a homeless man, Siswanto alias
\nRobot Gedek, the prosecutor demanded the death penalty, saying
\nthe defendant was guilty of sexually abusing and killing six
\nstreet boys between 11 to 15 years old.<\/p>\n
The executive director of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human
\nRights Association, Hendardi, said because Indonesia had ratified
\nthe UN's Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or
\nDegrading Treatment or Punishment, \"this increasingly supports
\nthe cause for wiping out the death sentence\".<\/p>\n
He said the death sentence was also \"inconsistent with the
\nspirit of the correction system applied here for more than three
\ndecades (since 1964).\"<\/p>\n
The system implies that a criminal has a chance to correct
\nhimself, Hendardi said.<\/p>\n
\"The perspective that a death sentence is aimed to prevent a
\nrepetition of crimes ... is not supported by facts of reduced
\nquality or quantity in crimes.\"<\/p>\n
Besides Oki and Robot, Philipus, who was found guilty of
\nmurdering a woman and her three children in East Jakarta, was
\nhanded down the death sentence last year.<\/p>\n
A military tribunal sentenced Lt. Sanurip to death last month
\nfor shooting dead 10 officers and six civilians at the Timika
\nairport on April 15 last year.<\/p>\n
In Surabaya, a woman called Astini was sentenced to death in
\nOctober for killing three neighbors between 1993 to 1995.<\/p>\n
Political prisoners on death row for their involvement in the
\nbanned Indonesian Communist Party include Marsudi, Asep Suryaman
\nand Isnanto. (dph\/anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pronouncement-of-death-sentence-sparks-controversy-1447893297",
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