Stiffer penalties for criminals

Stiffer penalties for criminals

From Republika

Criminals are increasingly becoming vicious, without any regard to who their victims are. Among their victims are officials. Just take, for instance, the fatal incident in which a resort police chief of Mamuju district, South Sulawesi, lost his life, which was reported in Republika, on April 4, 1997.

Being just a common citizen, I am very concerned about the present situation, if no effective efforts are made to curb crimes so others aren't victimized in future.

Given the present situation, I support "the shoot on the spot system" suggested by the Police Chief which should be dealt to criminals who refuse to surrender to authorities.

Although this system has its pros and cons, it appears that it's the only reliable method when it is applied, according to the law, by people in authority.

Aside from this, criminals who are repeat offenders conduct their crimes at a time when the public least expects it. It is hard to recognize a criminal who appears as a decent man. This has been proven often during daytime robberies.

Through this column, I hope security guards might be more alerted. Punish criminals in jail severely, according to the prevailing laws.

The reason why the number of criminals has increased might well be because of the light penalties given at present. Given the fact that most of them have been in and out of jail several times, they should be getting even more punishment.

There appears to be no other alternative in order to kill crime in its roots and to keep the number of criminals down. This is a good time, since we are about to make history shortly, with a democratic party time around the corner and the general session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in the offing.

BASO MADIONG

Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi