'CRIMINALS SHOULD SUFFER BEHIND BARS'

The debate over capital punishment has heated up again following the
executions of Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva.
Pro-democracy and human rights groups staged protests in Jakarta
denouncing the executions, and unrest broke out in East Nusa
Tenggara. The Jakarta Post asked people about the issue.

Wahyu Wijayanto, 24, is a civil servant at the National Development
Planning Board. He rents a house on Jl. Surabaya, Central Jakarta:

There is no reason why I should not agree with capital punishment.
Our legal system allows it as a penalty for those who have committed
major crimes, such as genocide and torture.

I also think that drug dealers deserve the death penalty because
they cause so many other people to die.

However, I don't think the government has in place the proper
mechanisms for executing death sentences. There are too many delays
in the process, which burdens not only the convicts but also the
government, because it eventually invites new controversy.

Look what happened with the Tibo case. The unrest occurred because
the government was hesitant about whether or not the punishment
would be delivered.

If the government acted firmly in executing the death penalty, there
would be no conflict because everybody would know the law had been enforced.

Maudini Virtriana, 24, works for a company in Mampang Prapatan,
South Jakarta. She rents a house near her office:

I don't agree with capital punishment because it doesn't change
anything. The convicts will die without having the chance to realize
what they have done.

I agree with the punishment applied in Nanggroe Aceh Darusallam,
where the perpetrators are whipped in public. That definitely will
teach them a lesson.

I would prefer a system like the one in the United States, where a
criminal is sentenced to hundreds of years in prison for major
crimes rather than being given capital punishment. Long sentences
like that make the criminals suffer behind bars for their crimes.

After all, one's death is in God's hands not ours.