In The News - 30 September

The Bali Bombers are to be executed now that their pleas for clemency to the Supreme Court of Indonesia have been refused. What drives a heart to become so cold and so callous that it conceives a plan to murder hundreds of innocent people

Amrozi, the smiling assassin they called him, didn't show any remorse. He laughed when they handed down the death sentence. It's for that reason that he should be executed because any sort of being that shows no remorse for cold blooded mass murder shouldn't be allowed to exist. But hold on, Texas alone has executed around 50 people this year. What could be more cold blooded than a state sanctioned execution. Who is setting the examples for how to properly deal with human life? If the Western world chooses to continue to disrespect the right to life then how can we expect the same in return.

When I see photos of Amrozi smiling away at the cameras I feel anger and frustration. It's difficult to comprehend and to be quite frank, it's quite scary. To look death, the great equalizer, in the eye and smile is something that few of us could understand. I think it's what makes suicide bombers so confronting to Western society. That sort of single minded devotion to a cause is something that the freedom loving people of the Western world could never demonstrate. At the same time you have to understand what is driving them to do what they do. Look for the underlying reasons and you no doubt find alot of pain and suffering that has hardened their hearts and made them forget their compassion.

I read in the newspaper that the victims' families were horrified to find out that Amnesty International is pushing for their executions to commuted. At a time when 6 Australians are on death row in Indonesia, Australia's stance couldn't be more crucial. Do these family members realise that by "vindicating" their lost loved ones, they are effectively condemning 6 young Australians to death as well? I wouldn't say this is selfish, and I wouldn't expect them to understand the point I'm trying to make and I guess that is the nature of grief.

"There certainly couldn't have been anyone from Amnesty International walking through the morgue like I did, trying to sort through body parts trying to identify my mates."

An execution isn't going to make those images go away, nor is it going to soothe the pain. If you hold onto your anger that hard then you are bound to lose your humanity as well.

I'm not going to suggest that they shouldn't be executed because it's what they want. I don't care if they become Martyrs or if they really do get 50 black-eyed virgins. I'm not interested in seeing them rot in a prison for the rest of their lives. Don't get me wrong, I want them to be punished for their crimes, but it simply doesn't need to be death.

Who are we doing it for? The victims? It's not going to bring them back. The family? Perhaps, but should they left to cling on to their anger and grief to the point that another corpse is added to the mix? It might be for the sake of civilised society, but it's not going to deter more terrorism and it will certainly make us that little bit more cold hearted. One step closer to what we are running from.

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A decision on the Bali 9 Constitutional Appeal in Jakarta is imminent. If successful mandatory death sentences for drug traffickers could be ruled unconstitutional and the Bali 9 resentenced.