Amalia Suri, Imparsial Researcher: The Death Penalty Is Still The Problem in Indonesia

April 27th, 2022

By: Sondang William Gabriel Manalu

Medan, wacana.org – The death penalty still has many problems in Indonesia, ranging from misguided judicial processes to torture of perpetrators. This was conveyed at the Discussion and Film Screening entitled "Is the Death Penalty the Solution for Narcotics Crimes?" by Imparsial Researcher Amalia Suri at Hotel Santika Dyandra, Wednesday (27/4).

Amalia also described a series of problems with the death penalty that occurred in Indonesia: the death row phenomenon, the execution process that was not transparent, discriminatory practice of the death penalty, budget problems, misguided trials, and torture during the waiting period for execution.

He also explained that the death penalty is often politicized by the government when people's trust begins to wane. “When there was a problem with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the Ministry of Law and Human Rights revealed that the two ministers who were corrupt deserved the death penalty. This is for the sake of regaining the public's trust,” he added, giving an example.

Agreeing with Amalia, the Coordinator of the Civil Society Alliance Against Torture (SIKAP) Quadi Azam also confirmed the statement regarding torture in the death penalty process. According to him, the death penalty causes great pain and suffering, both to the perpetrator and to his family.

He also explained that the death penalty is detrimental to civilization. "This country will continue to be ostracized internationally if it continues to carry out the death penalty," he said.

He also said the death penalty was no more effective than life imprisonment. "In fact, shooting at the location against the robbers did not eliminate the robbers," he concluded.

In response to this, one of the participants, the Mentari Faculty of Law 2019 student felt that the arguments presented by the presenters were quite accurate because they were accompanied by research data from many institutions. He hopes that the results of the discussion can be implemented in Indonesian law.