'Corruptors should be given the death sentence'

'Corruptors should be given the death sentence'

Despite appeals from local and international institutions, the
Indonesian government executed Indian national Ayodhya Prasadh
Chaubey, 67, last week, almost 10 years after he was sentenced to
death for smuggling 12 kilograms of heroin into the country. Amid
the debate over the draconian sentence, The Jakarta Post asked
some residents their opinion on the issue.

Andy Nababan, 28, is a lawyer at the Office of the State
Minister of the Environment. He lives in a boarding house in
Cipinang, East Jakarta:

The drug problem in this country should be considered an
emergency. Indonesia is not only involved in drug trafficking but
is already considered an end user. Therefore, capital punishment
must be imposed.

I agree with the death penalty for drug dealers. Malaysia and
Singapore, for example, succeeded in reducing substance abuse
because they showed commitment in enforcing such a penalty:
People think twice before distributing drugs there.

However, the execution procedure has to be clear. When all
legal appeals have been exhausted -- for example, after appeals
to the Supreme Court have been rejected -- convicts should be
executed immediately. Ayodhya was sentenced to death years ago:
The process should not have taken so long.

Nur Rachmi, 41, works for an international foundation in
Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. The mother of two lives with her
family in Cijantung, East Jakarta:

I support the death penalty for drug dealers because drug
abuse is a very urgent problem. However, (the government) needs
to make sure that court proceedings are carried out properly.

We cannot have another case like that of Ayodhya, who
questioned why he was sentenced to death, as the drugs concerned
were never presented in court as evidence.

The courts should not impose the death penalty merely because
a case involves drugs and simply to show that the government is
doing something. The courts must not arrive at wrongful
convictions -- we are talking human lives here.

Such a severe penalty should also be applied to corruptors,
but again, provided the evidence on which they are convicted is
strong.

We often see other people get arrested while the real
corruptors walk away. Indonesia is suffering a crisis in its
court system, so I doubt that corruptors are being tried
properly.

--The Jakarta Post