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Bali Nine: There is no place for execution in a civil society Bali Nine: there is no place for execution in a civil society
(about 17 hours later)
Myuran Sukumaran received his death warrant on Wednesday.Myuran Sukumaran received his death warrant on Wednesday.
What a strange and repugnant document, this missive that condemns a man to death. It reads:What a strange and repugnant document, this missive that condemns a man to death. It reads:
There is not enough reason to give clemency to those convicted … Reject clemency plea from convicted. The decision is in effect on the day it is decided.There is not enough reason to give clemency to those convicted … Reject clemency plea from convicted. The decision is in effect on the day it is decided.
Signed on December 30, on behalf of newly elected president, Joko Widodo, the letter was delivered to the Denpasar court and prosecutions service on Wednesday, and to the jail governor. Signed on 30 December on behalf of newly elected president Joko Widodo, the letter was delivered to the Denpasar court and prosecutions service on Wednesday, and to the jail governor.
Sukumaran’s legal team didn’t find out about the decision until they read about it on the Herald Sun website on Wednesday night.Sukumaran’s legal team didn’t find out about the decision until they read about it on the Herald Sun website on Wednesday night.
The 33-year-old from Sydney – now resident of Kerobokan prison in Bali – doesn’t know the time or the place of his execution (the law is silent on timelines), but if he wasn’t feeling condemned before, he surely must be now.The 33-year-old from Sydney – now resident of Kerobokan prison in Bali – doesn’t know the time or the place of his execution (the law is silent on timelines), but if he wasn’t feeling condemned before, he surely must be now.
His Melbourne-based legal team are holding hope of one more appeal.His Melbourne-based legal team are holding hope of one more appeal.
“The merits of this case need proper consideration, and if that means going back to court we will do so very soon,” Sukumaran’s lawyer, Julian McMahon said.“The merits of this case need proper consideration, and if that means going back to court we will do so very soon,” Sukumaran’s lawyer, Julian McMahon said.
In Widodo’s short time as president, he has taken a swift and hard line on the death penalty. Late last year, to the surprise of many who had been following his campaign and held out hopes that he would be strong on human rights, Widodo declared he wanted all 64 drug smugglers on death row executed to send a strong message about the drug scourge.In Widodo’s short time as president, he has taken a swift and hard line on the death penalty. Late last year, to the surprise of many who had been following his campaign and held out hopes that he would be strong on human rights, Widodo declared he wanted all 64 drug smugglers on death row executed to send a strong message about the drug scourge.
He indicated his intention to execute six convicts before January, and 20 more in the new year.He indicated his intention to execute six convicts before January, and 20 more in the new year.
Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, said on Thursday, “Australia opposes the death penalty. We oppose the death penalty for Australians at home and abroad” but stressed the importance of maintaining good ties with Indonesia. Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said on Thursday, “Australia opposes the death penalty. We oppose the death penalty for Australians at home and abroad”, but stressed the importance of maintaining good ties with Indonesia.
After setting up the clemency campaign website www.mercycampaign.org in 2010 with fellow members of anti-death penalty organisation, Reprieve, I’ve heard many arguments about why both Australians on death row – Andrew Chan and Sukumaran – should be executed. They range from respecting the legal sovereignty of Indonesia, to the immense harm that drugs do to our society, to a sort of caveat emptor – the traffickers should have known the laws before they embarked on their venture. After setting up the clemency campaign website mercycampaign.org in 2010 with fellow members of anti-death penalty organisation Reprieve, I’ve heard many arguments about why both Australians on death row – Andrew Chan and Sukumaran – should be executed. They range from respecting the legal sovereignty of Indonesia, to the immense harm that drugs do to our society, to a sort of caveat emptor – the traffickers should have known the laws before they embarked on their venture.
But no argument is compelling enough to justify judicial killing.But no argument is compelling enough to justify judicial killing.
Auberon Waugh wrote, “Judicial execution can never cancel or remove the atrocity it seeks to punish; it can only add a second atrocity to the original one …” Auberon Waugh wrote: “Judicial execution can never cancel or remove the atrocity it seeks to punish; it can only add a second atrocity to the original one … ”
Execution has no place in the arsenal of the legal system of a civil society. It is barbaric – medieval even – with its echoes of public hangings and baying mobs, punishment as theatre, the scaffolds of Tehran, the injections that don’t work the first time round, the electrical current that maims but doesn’t kill, the hangings that don’t take.Execution has no place in the arsenal of the legal system of a civil society. It is barbaric – medieval even – with its echoes of public hangings and baying mobs, punishment as theatre, the scaffolds of Tehran, the injections that don’t work the first time round, the electrical current that maims but doesn’t kill, the hangings that don’t take.
Then there’s the fact that the law gets it wrong. In the US, advances in DNA evidence have uncovered multiple instances where the courts made terrible errors. They killed the wrong person. But dum de dum … it’s too late now, isn’t it, to make amends.Then there’s the fact that the law gets it wrong. In the US, advances in DNA evidence have uncovered multiple instances where the courts made terrible errors. They killed the wrong person. But dum de dum … it’s too late now, isn’t it, to make amends.
Sukumaran has admitted his crimes. But is he the same man that committed the crime back in 2005? No.Sukumaran has admitted his crimes. But is he the same man that committed the crime back in 2005? No.
What could be more unenlightened than thinking that people don’t change, that they can’t be rehabilitated, that their crime defines them to the exclusion of all else?What could be more unenlightened than thinking that people don’t change, that they can’t be rehabilitated, that their crime defines them to the exclusion of all else?
I visited Sukumaran and Chan in Bali’s Kerobokan prison last year.I visited Sukumaran and Chan in Bali’s Kerobokan prison last year.
It was an unusual place. There were the beginnings of a garden and some common areas – an art workshop, computer room, battered old chairs and plastic drink bottles, reminiscent of a high school common room.It was an unusual place. There were the beginnings of a garden and some common areas – an art workshop, computer room, battered old chairs and plastic drink bottles, reminiscent of a high school common room.
Sukumaran set up the art room with the cooperation of prison governors who supported the endeavour. Prisoners sat before easels, working quietly on their paintings – pictures from home clipped to the canvas, guiding their brushes.Sukumaran set up the art room with the cooperation of prison governors who supported the endeavour. Prisoners sat before easels, working quietly on their paintings – pictures from home clipped to the canvas, guiding their brushes.
In the Bali heat, in the crowded prison, it would be so easy to give into a kind of stupor, to let the season-less years drift as you waited it out. In the Bali heat, in the crowded prison, it would be so easy to give into a kind of stupor, to let the seasonless years drift as you waited it out.
But what struck me about Chan and Sukumaran was their energy and purpose.But what struck me about Chan and Sukumaran was their energy and purpose.
Maybe being marked focuses the mind (“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully,” said Boswell) but Sukumaran has devoted the last few years of his life to rehabilitating himself, and working hard to improve the conditions of the prison. Maybe being marked focuses the mind (“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully,” said Boswell), but Sukumaran has devoted the last few years of his life to rehabilitating himself and working hard to improve the conditions of the prison.
Through an intermediary he told Fairfax:Through an intermediary he told Fairfax:
I’ve been walking around feeling like someone’s punched me in the stomach. Is there no such thing as rehabilitation??? Can’t someone change????I’ve been walking around feeling like someone’s punched me in the stomach. Is there no such thing as rehabilitation??? Can’t someone change????
The way out now lies with prime minister Abbott – that he advocates forcefully but also humbly to make one final plea for mercy.The way out now lies with prime minister Abbott – that he advocates forcefully but also humbly to make one final plea for mercy.
Brigid Delaney is the co-founder of the Mercy Campaign and features editor of Guardian Australia.Brigid Delaney is the co-founder of the Mercy Campaign and features editor of Guardian Australia.