Was justice finally delivered in the controversial “Bali Nine” drug trafficking case or was it an instance of the law turning draconian? International opinion is mixed.
Eight of the “Bali Nine”, who were arrested for attempting to smuggle heroin out of Bali in 2005, were executed early on Wednesday by Indonesian authorities for drug trafficking-related offences in the prison island of Nusakambangan in Central Java.
They included Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. Also executed were four Nigerians, one Brazilian and one Indonesian.
The execution of Mary Jane Veloso, a 30-year old convict from the Philippines, was delayed because of new developments in the case. She earned a last-minute reprieve after a human trafficking suspect, who allegedly recruited Veloso to act as a drug courier, surrendered to the police in the Phillippines.
Wednesday’s executions were part of a concerted anti-narcotics campaign by Indonesia since President Joko Widodo assumed office in October 2014. The latest round follows the execution of six drug offenders in January.
The latest executions have come under international scrutiny, with Australia registering a strong protest by recalling its senior-most diplomat in Jakarta. Even in January, Indonesia’s action was condemned by the countries whose nationals were executed, with Brazil and Netherlands recalling their ambassadors.
According to a report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), between 1999 and 2014, 27 people were executed for drug-related offences in Indonesia, with an average of fewer than two executions annually.
However, the report states, “Within Widodo’s first 100 days in office, Indonesia executed six people.” Reports also claim that “if Widodo maintains his hardline position of no mercy for drug crimes, approximately 40 more foreign citizens may be executed this year as Indonesia clears its death row of narcotics prisoners”.
Indonesia is among the rare countries that execute drug smugglers, who in other parts of the world would be condemned to or have their sentences converted to long prison sentences.
However, executions of drug smugglers are becoming commonplace. According to Amnesty International, Iran has executed 24 people in the first four months of this year alone. In Iran, possession of just 30g of some “synthetic drugs” can result in execution by hanging.
“Thirty-two countries, plus Gaza, have the death penalty for drug smuggling, according to Harm Reduction International (HRI), a drug-focused NGO,” a report in The Economist says. “All but four (America, Cuba, Sudan and South Sudan) are in Asia or the Middle East. But in most of them, executions are extremely rare.”
The report also adds that “fourteen countries, including the United States of America and Cuba, have the death penalty on the books for drug traffickers but do not apply it in practice”.
The report says that only in six countries—China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore—are drug offenders known to be “routinely executed”. Following the recent crackdown on drug traffickers, the report adds, Indonesia will soon join the list.
Unsurprisingly, Asia’s tough stance on drug-trafficking is in stark contrast with liberal drug-related legislation in the West, notably on recreational drugs like marijuana.
The Economist report adds, “Trading cannabis, which earns beheading in Saudi Arabia, has been legalized for recreational use in four states of America, as well as Uruguay, and decriminalized in much of Europe and Latin America. Heroin addiction is increasingly treated as an illness rather than a crime: few countries, including Britain and Switzerland, even prescribe heroin to a small number of addicts.”
The “Bali Nine” case reflects a sharply divergent approach towards drug-related offences, opening the door for dissent and debate, especially among opponents of the death penalty or capital punishment, who consider it brutal, inhumane and senseless.
The two Australians were believed to have undergone rehabilitation while in prison, and even reformed themselves.
Countries such as Indonesia and Iran, grappling with problems of drug use within their borders, consider these punishments as a deterrent against future acts of a similar nature.
