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| Row over Death Row | |
Australians and
enlightened Indonesians
alike have applauded the guilty verdict and subsequent death sentence for Bali
bomber Amrozi. Concepts like 'closure' and 'justice' were bandied around, but
no-one seemed to be talking about the thing which is arguably more important
than revenge - deterrence. Sometimes the thoughts of a simpleton are hard to read, and while Amrozi
may be somewhat concerned about checking out early, he has shown little concern
about it - even raising his fist in triumph at the sentence, and displaying his
trademark idiot grin. Amrozi believes (or claims to believe) that he is going to enjoy a position
of glory next to Allah - presumably with his quota of 70 virgins. Why should he be
concerned about death? Executing terrorists
like Amrozi seems about as intelligent as as chanting 'death to the suicide
bombers'. No point guys, death is not a deterrent to such people. A much
greater deterrent is to lock them in a small cage for the term of their natural
lives. Everybody gets a warm warm inner glow from revenge, but it is a dish best
served cold, and ultimately the best revenge is a happy life, and that is
achieved by maximal deterrence: minimizing the number of innocent people hurt
and killed by similar acts in the future. Some of the Bali victims and victim's families
have recognized this - saying that death was too good for Amrozi, and that a
spot of torture first would be appropriate. An unpopular judicial mechanism in
modern democracies, but
not one totally without merit. A more rational approach would be to set up a company ('Victims of Bali
Bombing Inc'), and give shares to each of the victims (or their families),
and make Amrozi the property of the company. The shareholders could then decide
what to do with him at a shareholder's meeting. Some would want torture, some
would want death, and some (like Adelaide Magistrate Brian Deegan) would
presumably want him to emigrate to Australia so he could go on the dole, and
have titty social workers could understand at him a lot). Some might even
consider selling him back to Jemiah Islamia, though (with the current funding
squeeze caused by US
anti-terrorism pressure) they probably couldn't afford him. Perhaps though, the firing squad is a good idea in the light of a recent
chink in the armor - Amrozi has agreed to his defense team launching an appeal
against his death sentence. Maybe he's not in such a hurry to get his 70
virgins after all. Or maybe he has had second thought about the whole thing. Amrozi shouldn't let his appeal go for too long though. As every Sari
Nightclub patron would know, virgins are a limited
resource, and at the current rate of suicide bombings they must be going fast.
By the time he gets to heaven there will only be ugly ones left.
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