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Bali Nine duo receives more support
Andrew chanFeb
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Andrew chan
Feb. 9, p1
As the execution date for two Australian drug smugglers, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, draws near, more demands have been made on President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo to spare their lives.
Sukumaran, 33, and Chan, 31, have been detained at Kerobokan Penitentiary in Bali for almost 10 years. They are two of nine Australians, the so-called Bali Nine, who were convicted of attempting to smuggle more than 8 kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia in 2005.
Your comments:
President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo is facing a difficult decision in the enforcement of the death penalty for two Australian drug dealers, and plans for the execution of another nine prisoners.
Jokowi is a good leader who wants to be seen as a strong ruler steadfast in his resolve to uphold the laws of the country. He has to be admired for doing so. However, in this case the death penalty will generate toward Jokowi and the judiciary branch nothing but ill will from many parts of the world.
I am not saying that the two Australians in particular should be let off easily. They knew the laws of the country and with nothing but greed motivating them they chose to participate in a heinous crime.
I suggest that President Jokowi immediately impose a moratorium on the death penalty and activate debate in his government to repeal this law and replace it with life imprisonment, bringing it in line with modern and humane thought on the subject.
Ron Harrison
It is disappointing that some see this either as being a matter of principle regarding Indonesia's right to execute, or feel that Indonesia should somehow compromise because these men are Australian. They are missing the key point of this extraordinary case.
Indonesia has every right to execute these men under its laws. However, it is Indonesia who can choose not to do so.
These men were given so much time that they have changed fundamentally, for their own good and the good of all around them. And this is the crucial issue here.
It now becomes a case where good men are going to be shot. As far as I am aware, Indonesia's laws consider the killing of good people a crime. The circumstances of this case have changed, and so now should the outcome.
Joba Bhaile
As an Aussie I back the Indonesian government on this; they were not young boys but young men who were warned on the flight coming over that the penalty for drug smuggling was death. Some say killing these two won't make a difference, but killing all drug carriers will.
Markus
The laws of a sovereign country are the law, without exception ' no double standard, no special treatment. The world is much better without these men and their 8 kilograms of confiscated drugs.
FMN
Please, we need to revisit the need for the death penalty. Someone who has been in prison for a decade with constant fear of execution ' they and their families have already died many deaths. They have led reformed lives, and any just and civilized society should give people a second chance. Every human life is beautiful. Every life is important. Please abolish the death penalty.
Mercy
There is always a neutral approach. Defer the execution for a further three to five years. Allow these two prisoners more time to show what they can continue to the prison community.
There is no need to have them executed promptly, and deferring the death execution by three to five years is not commuting their sentence to life imprisonment. It merely allows the President and the world more time to evaluate the decision.
IB Saw
Indonesia is a sovereign country with its own laws. Any foreigner who wants to carry drugs into the country are subject to this law. Law is law in each country. I don't support the death penalty, but now they face the fate of being a drug-smuggler or dealer.
Master
Dear President, please give clemency to these two reformed young men who are an example of the good work done by the Indonesian penal system. Please let them keep contributing to the rehabilitation of other prisoners and the improvement of other lives.
Oscar Smith
