Support up for proposal to scrap death sentence

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The proposal to reduce the death sentence to life imprisonment in cases where a convict has not been executed five years after their verdict was handed down has won support among lawyers and legal experts.

"I personally don't agree with the death sentence because everybody has the right to live and that is a right that cannot be abrogated," lawyer and human rights activist Hendardi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He said that the proposal, made by Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan on Thursday, reflected progress in Indonesia's legal system.

Prevailing laws allow the execution of a criminal on death row to be delayed indefinitely.

"To make people wait for so long before they are executed is to make them suffer double their punishment," Hendardi said.

He said that most of the executions in Indonesia were of murderers or people convicted of drug-related crimes.

Hendardi said there was no data showing the existence of the death sentence deters people from committing crime.

Nevertheless, he said, the death sentence might be applicable in certain cases, such as for embezzlers.

Meanwhile, legal expert with the University of Indonesia Topo Santoso said that in fact an initiative to reduce the death sentence to life imprisonment had been accommodated in the new national criminal code currently being drafted by the government, which is expected to be submitted to the House of Representatives for deliberation in the not too distant future.

"In the future, the death sentence should not be regarded as a primary penalty, but rather exist to be used for certain cases only," Topo said.

Citing China as an example, he said the death sentence might be changed into life imprisonment after a certain period of time.

"But we don't know how House members will respond to the draft," he said.

Using a classic argument against the death penalty, he said that imposing the death sentence was risky.

"If new evidence surfaced, and in the meantime the death sentence had been carried out, there would be no way for the mistake to be corrected," Topo said.

Topo said the death sentence might be applicable in cases of terrorism that cause the deaths of many.

Commenting on the theory that the death sentence discourages criminals, Topo said that experts were yet to agree on its deterrence effect. (004)