Its the first time I've posted on this thread, but I have followed the story of the Bali 9 and the other poor souls schedule to die with them, for some years now.
I must admit my attitude has changed over the last few months. Although I don't believe in the DP for drug smuggling, I did used to think that if you know the rules of a country, and choose to break them, they you can't really complain at the punishment. So to smuggle drugs in a country with the death penalty for that crime, it was hard to find any sympathy. But, reading about these 2 men, I can't see any justifiable reason to kill them. For one thing, they have made a huge difference to people's lives in prison, they have been rehabilitated and they have made amends for what they did. Their lives would be better spent carrying on this work, then being snuffed out by a firing squad. And another thing, I think drug users get off far too easily. Nobody forces them to try drugs for the first time, and they make the choice every time they buy or use drugs. They are creating the demand for drugs, but never seem to be held accountable for it. With no demand, there would be no need for people to smuggle drugs from country to country. The "war on drugs" hasn't worked and never will work. Its a huge waste of money and won't ever achieve anything. Killing these people won't achieve anything, and neither will it prevent future drug smugglers from taking the same risk.
I then began to think about the age they were when they smuggled the drugs. Adults yes, but not really grown men. I have children that age - I still see them as kids, rather than adults. They don't do drugs, but I can't say for certain that they don't make stupid mistakes or take silly risks in their lives, or make bad decisions. It just takes one mistake and their whole live path would be altered. So, yes I do have sympathy for them now.
I think that it immensely cruel to have kept someone alive for 10 years, allowing them to rehabilitate themselves and teach other people a better way of life - then for the sake of power, and making a point (and to get some warped kind of thrill out of annoying the Australian Government) kill these men. The way these executions have been dragged out is horrendous, with their poor families thinking they will happen, then getting reprieve after reprieve, as if to prolong the agony - as I'm sure there was never any intention to commute their sentences to life imprisonment.
Having followed the case of Heather Mack, I am absolutely sickened that you can beat a person to death, stuff their body into a suitcase and then get 10 years in prison. It just shows that the people in charge are picking and choosing which DP crimes really do carry the DP, and which can be changed at whim (or more accurately, at a cost).
Also, I am immensely sorry for the young single mother who is scheduled to die tonight. She was apparently duped into carrying the drugs. Even if she knew what she was doing - what possible good can come out of killing a young mum, leaving 2 boys without any parents at all? The lives of so many people are going to be shattered due to these executions. Surely the innocent families don't deserve this?
I think the way the Indonesian Government has handled these potential executions has been absolutely sickening. In the UK press, we have seen it become like a sick soap opera - showing the coffins being delivered, the aircraft ready to take them to death island, endless mock ups of what the executions will be like, photographs of the 2 condemned men on board the plane to death island and today even being shown the crosses being painted with names and RIP, before these poor people are even dead. There is no need for any of this. Its just mawkish and sick. Their poor families must be at breaking point, their mental health must be irreversibly damaged.
I am dreading waking up to see headlines about their execution.
