Former High Court chief justice Sir Gerard Brennan has accused Australian political leaders from both sides of the spectrum of talking with 'forked tongues' when it comes to the death penalty.
Sir Gerard said: "We cannot declare the execution of Australians to be barbaric and the execution of Indonesians to be acceptable. A country which speaks about such an important issue with a forked tongue can hardly lay claim to the rule of law and forfeits its credibility in the international forum."
I have to agree with him.
On one hand we decry the 'barbaric' intention of the Indonesian Government to execute to dopey fools caught in Bali as drug mules. How can they do such a thing? They are Australian citizens! On the other hand, our political, but not moral, leaders demand nothing less than the death sentence for the Bali bombers, responsible for the senseless death of over 200 tourists, 88 of them Australian.
Well, sorry, it's either wrong (read "barbaric") or it isn't.
And I firmly believe that it is.
I, nor anyone acting as my agent, has any right to take another person's life.
For any reason.
◊◊◊
After thought: I do favour euthanasia in some circumstances, but it involves the desires of the person involved. They must wish to die.
Further after thought: The Bali bombers do wish to die, they want to be martyrs. Their dopey and distorted religious beliefs lead them to think that they will get their 'reward' once they are dead. But I don't wish them to get that gratification and posthumous glory.
Grumph!
....
I share the same view re Euthanasia & Bali bombers given their twisted motives for dying.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of the death penalty, however i do respect other countries laws. I may not agree or like them, but respect them. Any person travelling over seas that is stupid enough to do so without researching the culture, political system,religous views, is putting themselves at risk. To not know these things AND be dumb enough to traffic drugs and get caught in a country that still utilises the death penalty, well you risk even more.
Indonesias justice system is pretty transparent to Australians, it aint no secret that they have the death penalty and use it.
Like i said, i don't agree with it and i don't like it, but i don't like drug trafficing even more.