MUI supports death penalty for drug dealers
MUI supports death penalty for drug dealers
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) added its support for
the execution of six drug dealers on death row following
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's refusal to grant them pardons.
The head of the MUI's fatwa (Islamic religious edict)
commission, Ma'ruf Amin, said on Wednesday that the council threw
its weight behind the executions as drugs were a threat to the
younger generation.
"The (death) penalty is to prevent the rise of a greater danger,"
Ma'ruf said as quoted by Antara.
The MUI also called on the government to impose heavy
sentences on corruptors, but fell short of calling for the death
sentence for them.
He said that heavy punishments were necessary to discourage
others from committing crimes and deter those who had been
convicted from repeating their crimes.
Islamic law, he said, considered narcotics as being especially
damaging to the younger generation, and therefore such substances
must be eradicated.
Human rights activists have campaigned against the death
penalty, saying it violated the basic right to life.
The Bishops Conference of Indonesia (KWI), meanwhile, has yet
to decide whether to support the death penalty for drug dealers,
a KWI spokesperson, Ismartono, said.
However, Catholics in general reject the death penalty as it
violates the ban on killing under the 10 Commandments, he added.
"If you ask the bishops, their spontaneous response would be
to reject the death sentence," he told The Jakarta Post.
The imposition of heavy punishments, he said, should protect
society from harm or lead convicted persons away from their
criminal behavior.
He said a KWI internal discussion was underway with a decision
likely to be made next week.
"It will be more of an internal decision which will not
necessarily be announced to the public," Ismartono said.
Indonesian judges have been meting out harsh sentences to drug
dealers although the country's law generally lacks the toughness
of those in Malaysia and Singapore.
Police have said that Indonesia has become both a transit
center for international drug traffickers as well as a market for
foreign and homegrown marijuana.
Aceh, meanwhile, is a major producer of marijuana, a problem
that is difficult to deal with as drug dealers take advantage of
weak law enforcement following more than two decades of
separatist fighting in the province.
Last year, the government stepped up its war against narcotics
with the establishment of the National Narcotics Board (BNN).
The courts have sentenced 16 convicts to death and five others
to life imprisonment for drug offenses.
Most of the convicts are foreigners, including five Nepalese,
four Nigerians, two Thais, an Angolan, a Pakistani, a Zimbabwean,
a Malawian and a Dutchman of Chinese descent. Five are
Indonesians.
However, none of the convicted have been executed so far.
Spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, Andi Syarifuddin,
said the execution of the six drug dealers would soon be carried
out, pending the settlement of administrative matters.
The last execution of a drug dealer was in 1995, when a
Malaysian, identified as Chan Ting Chong alias Steven Chong, was
shot by a 12-man firing squad. But only one of the rifles used
contained live ammunition, a practice that is aimed at easing the
feelings of guilt of the executioners.