I am not a believer in capital punishment,
it is nothing more than state sanctioned murder. It is vengeful, retrospective
and inefficient, nor does it deter crimes. The government does not have the
right to take the lives of its citizens; a government of the people by the
people does not execute the people who live within its borders, that role is
usually reserved for dictators or totalitarian regimes.
Neither am I a believer in soft policing or justice practices. The execution of Chan and Sukamartren was a political decision by a weak leader attempting to impose himself on a public racked with fatal reservations of his competence. Joko Widodo had the ability to grant clemency, he instead chose political gain over fair and just judgement. Not only that, the leader of the Indonesian opposition party stated there would be no political ramifications from the granting of clemency, he chose to ignore that.
Neither am I a believer in soft policing or justice practices. The execution of Chan and Sukamartren was a political decision by a weak leader attempting to impose himself on a public racked with fatal reservations of his competence. Joko Widodo had the ability to grant clemency, he instead chose political gain over fair and just judgement. Not only that, the leader of the Indonesian opposition party stated there would be no political ramifications from the granting of clemency, he chose to ignore that.
I personally believe in strict penalties;
for crimes such as drug smuggling, a sentence of twenty to twenty five years is
appropriate. The two organisors had served nearly half of a drug smuggling
sentence as it was. I was not convinced of the so-called rehabilitation of the
smugglers; yes, they appeared to be repentant. I believed that had more to do
with actually being caught than anything; that is not the issue though.
The Brazilian national was only aware of
his fate as he was being fastened to the firing board of which he enquired
"Am I being executed?" Even though he had been extensively briefed,
such was the level of his schizophrenia, he was unaware of his fate. So the
Indonesian government is executing the mentally ill, similar in nature to the
NAZI regime of the 1930s. Significantly, Mary Jane Veleso was spared execution
just minutes from facing the firing squad as a key witness came forward under
the pressure of death threats.
Mary Jane had been the victim of a human
trafficking ring and has been temporarily spared to testify at the
investigation. So the failures of the Indonesian justice system were minutes
away from sending an innocent person to execution, if a person has been falsly
imprisoned, they at least have the opportunity to walk free after a judicial
review - that can't happen after an execution.
The double standards of Indonesia seeking
clemency for its citizens on death row overseas whilst executing foreigners
smacks of political arrogance. Every aspect of this execution was stage managed
for political gain, Joko Widodo is a spineless leader with no authority of a
morally corrupt nation; the systemic corruption encroaching on the daily lives
of Indonesian nationals is absurd. The transfer of prisoners from prison to
execution island was carefully stage managed for maximum effect - this was
overkill. Likewise, the treatment of the families of the executed was
disgraceful, this third world nation seeking an audience on the world stage is
shambolic and barbaric.
One has to remember, this is a nation
supporting terrorism, the same nation that frees convicted terrorists. This
pair were not the masterminds of the operation, this pair was the enforcers for
the masterminds, these guys were the organisers. The Australian syndicate has
never been brought to justice; likewise, the Thai prostitute who smuggled the
drugs from Thailand to Indonesia escaped. So the supply chain is still intact -
nothing has been properly investigated and the international drug syndicate
remains operational.
Had the two governments worked together,
the Indonesians would have monitored the Bali 9 through customs and allowed the
Australians to follow the team through immigration with surveillance through to
the syndicate running the operation with the Indonesians following up the
supply end through Thailand. The Australian/Indonesian authorities then
announce the joint cooperation program ushering in the new era in
Australian/Indonesian policing; instead we had the Indonesians eager to make a
bust of seven low-level drug mules and two mid-level organisers/enforcers with
the trust and cooperation between these two organisations in tatters.
Do the people running these organisations
have no strategic sense at all, do they only hold short-term thinking
capabilities? They totally blew a prime opportunity to smash a international
drugs syndicate, cement a joint working partnership and forge closer ties to
combat terrorism, the Indonesians have proved themselves to be totally
incompetent.
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