Death Penalty in Indonesia

Indonesia, one of only 25 countries in the world that still impose capital punishment, has seen 35 people sentenced to death by the courts since the start of the year, according to the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras). That number could grow in the coming years, as the country is mulling whether to widen the application of the ultimate penalty. The execution of convicts has become something of a hallmark of the presidency of Jokowi, who has declared war on drug trafficking, an offense that carries the ultimate punishment. Fourteen drugtraffickers were executed in 2015, but an earlier plan to execute14 more in July was aborted at the last minute; instead only four were sent to the firing squad.

Until today, the government has not explained the reason for the literally 11th-hour reprieve for the 10. Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo insisted their executions were simply being delayed. Jokowi has publicly rebuked any attempt at intervention by foreign leaders who asked for a stay of executions for their citizens, citing Indonesia’s sovereignty. This did not stop European leaders from telling him to stop the executions when he visited Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium in April. Indonesia’s appetite for the blood of criminals has not stopped there. In the current debate to reform the penal code, politicians are advocating expanding the use of capital punishment to acts of treason, terrorism and terrorism-related activities, genocide, corruption, endangering flight safety, extortion and intimidation. With reports of sexual abuse against children, some politicians have also asked to add this to the list of crimes punishable by death.

In my opinion, there are many advantages of the death penalty, such as it shows that our justice system has no sympathy for the criminals and also this death penalty can address the problem of overpopulation in the prisons. However, there are also disadvantages of the death penalty. For example, the cost involved on the death penalty is much more greater than the expenses occurred in the life imprisonment of the accused.


Reflection based on http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/10/10/death-penalty-becoming-more-popular-indonesia.html