Pubdate: Tue, 26 Sep 2006
Source: Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
Copyright: The Jakarta Post
Contact:  http://www.thejakartapost.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/645

'CRIMINALS SHOULD SUFFER BEHIND BARS'

The debate over capital punishment has heated up again  following the 
executions of Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu  and Dominggus da Silva. 
Pro-democracy and human rights  groups staged protests in Jakarta 
denouncing the  executions, and unrest broke out in East Nusa 
Tenggara.  The Jakarta Post asked people about the issue.

Wahyu Wijayanto, 24, is a civil servant at the National  Development 
Planning Board. He rents a house on Jl.  Surabaya, Central Jakarta:

There is no reason why I should not agree with capital  punishment. 
Our legal system allows it as a penalty for  those who have committed 
major crimes, such as genocide  and torture.

I also think that drug dealers deserve the death  penalty because 
they cause so many other people to die.

However, I don't think the government has in place the  proper 
mechanisms for executing death sentences. There  are too many delays 
in the process, which burdens not  only the convicts but also the 
government, because it  eventually invites new controversy.

Look what happened with the Tibo case. The unrest  occurred because 
the government was hesitant about  whether or not the punishment 
would be delivered.

If the government acted firmly in executing the death  penalty, there 
would be no conflict because everybody  would know the law had been enforced.

Maudini Virtriana, 24, works for a company in Mampang  Prapatan, 
South Jakarta. She rents a house near her  office:

I don't agree with capital punishment because it  doesn't change 
anything. The convicts will die without  having the chance to realize 
what they have done.

I agree with the punishment applied in Nanggroe Aceh  Darusallam, 
where the perpetrators are whipped in  public. That definitely will 
teach them a lesson.

I would prefer a system like the one in the United  States, where a 
criminal is sentenced to hundreds of  years in prison for major 
crimes rather than being  given capital punishment. Long sentences 
like that make  the criminals suffer behind bars for their crimes.

After all, one's death is in God's hands not ours.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine