'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