Support up for proposal to scrap death sentence
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)