Thu, 06 Feb 2003

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.