Bali Nine case sparks death penalty debate

Six members of the Bali Nine heroin smuggling gang are appealing their death sentences at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta. What seemed like a ‘hail-Mary‘ to some people, has turned into an extremely important legal debate for Indonesia as a whole.

Indonesia allows the death penalty, most commonly implemented by firing squad. The constitution also says a person has the right to life. Add foreign drug runners and a signing of an international treaty proposing abolishing capital punishment and you have a can of worms. Australian legal experts as well as counterparts from Indonesia have argued both for and against the legality of the death penalty, not just for drug trafficking but also for crimes involving terrorism and murder.

The likelihood is the death penalty will remain a part of criminal justice in Indonesia, but hopefully its dispatch will be limited. We wait with baited breath to hear the fate of the 6 Australians on death row.