Although there is currently something of an unofficial moratorium on executions, Indonesia still utilizes the death penalty, mostly for drug trafficking and premeditated murder convicts. While the use of capital punishment for those crimes is still debated, there have been many calls to have the state execute corruption convicts as the ultimate deterrent against graft.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is currently studying the possibility of demanding capital punishment for eight corruption suspects accused of graft related to the recovery efforts in Central Sulawesi following the deadly earthquake-tsunami that hit the region in September.
The eight suspects — four of whom are Public Works Ministry officials while the rest are executives at construction contractors — stand accused of giving and taking bribes related to the construction of 12 drinking water treatment systems (SPAM) throughout Indonesia, one of which is located in Donggala regency, one of the areas most severely affected by the disaster.
The KPK says corruption of a crucial public facility in a disaster area is a crime that deserves more extreme punishment, namely the evocation of an article in Indonesia’s Law on the Eradication of Corruption Acts which justifies the death penalty in “special circumstances”.
“It’s possible that [convicts] be given the death penalty if they commit graft related to a disaster site and therefore adds to the misery of the victims. We will study the possibility,” KPK Deputy Chairman Saut Situmorang said, as quoted by Metro TV.
Reactions to the potential death penalty demand appear to be overwhelmingly positive, with the House of Parliament (DPR), political parties and legal justice analysts all saying they support the idea.
Capital punishment for corruption convicts is an idea that the country has been collectively exploring for many years. As for the criticism that the death penalty is fundamentally against human rights principles, KPK officials have, in the past, used the argument that corruptors themselves neglect the human rights of the people by stealing what’s rightfully theirs.
Even so, no corruption convict has actually ever been given the death penalty in Indonesia. One of the most severe punishments given to a corruption convict was the life imprisonment sentence handed to former Constitutional Court Justice Akil Mokhtar for bribery in 2014.
