[The 19-year-old brutally killed Sheila von Wiese-Mack with the help of her boyfriend in August and dumped the bloody suitcase (pictured) in a taxi outside the upscale St. Regis Bali Resort; Daily Mail]
To make it clear from the beginning; for the purpose of the article, it is not a question of whether or not the Bali 9 should have been sentenced to death and subsequently executed. It is also not about the death penalty being humane or inhumane.
It is however about the question of Justice, and the notion that the outcome of all criminal cases in terms of punishment should reflect the seriousness of the crime.
Governments make their own laws according to what the legislative bodies in a respective country have found to be 'the right way' for them. The argument, that if you break the law of a country, you will then have to deal with the consequences of your actions, is of course valid. But what sort of punishment is indeed fair, and reflects the wrongdoing.
Assume a person kills another in a traffic accident, because he/she was on the phone and not paying attention to traffic - would a death penalty be justified?
How about if a person kills another on purpose, for any sort of personal gain - death penalty?
If a person does something, that could have potentially killed another person - death?
How about if a person kills a group of people in one go - is killing 10 (100 or 1000) people worse than killing one, and should hence receive a harsher sentence?
Within one legal system, we had three of those cases.
The Bali 9, whose 8+ Kilos of Heroin would have had a high chance of causing someone's death by overdose
Heather Mack, who killed her mother with a crystal ashtray last year in Bali
Muhammad Cholili, who helped build the bombs that killed 20 and left over 100 injured in a Bali Restaurant in 2005
Bali 9 (at least the majority) were executed after 10 years of prison
Heather Mack received a 10 year jail sentence and was filmed getting drunk in her cell after her sentence
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3058521/This-woman-murdered-moth...
Muhammad Cholili, who was released after 9 years because of good behavior in prison
It was said, that the death penalty is needed, to deter people from trafficking drugs in the region - ok, point taken.
But - shouldn't there also be a penalty to deter one person from 'purposefully' killing another one???
Yes, the majority of the Bali bombers have indeed been executed, but quite a few have also walked free. Yes, Heather Mack just became a mother, and the court took into consideration that she would have to care for her child - but Mary Jane Veloso also has two children and narrowly escaped her execution, and could still get shot as the case against her has not been dropped, just paused.
Yes, the Bali 9 deserved a harsh punishment, and any drug dealing, trafficking, production does. But so does actively or passively killing another human being on purpose and with intention.
It is not about West vs. East, the West does exactly the same thing. But within the borders of any sovereign judicial system, punishment, leniency and mercy should be applied on an equal scale, to bring about what the courts are there for - Justice.
BayuClub
TRS Contributor