Bali and the Death Penalty.

My opinion on the whole Bali 9 situation is pretty multi-faceted.

First off, even before this happened I was never going to set foot in Indonesia.  Something about their government and our international relations with them just puts me off.  So I'm not particularly affected by the whole "boycott Bali" thing.  If I'm going overseas, I'm going to Vietnam to visit GincDmon, Japan for the cherry blossoms or the USA to see a WWE event or meet Alan Alda.

Now, I have never believed in the death penalty.  For any crime, death is too easy.  If someone hurts another person, then they should be made to attone for it, not be given the easy out of dying.  On that note, it would be nice if punishments were in fact punishments.  Putting people in a nice cushy facility with three square meals a day with dessert is not cool.  If you are arrested and thrown in gaol, you should be working your backside off.  Make these guys dig up mud and make bricks, or sit them in a room (with no air conditioning) and make them sew school uniforms.  Make them work, don't kill them. 

That being said, these guys knew what the penalty was for messing around with drugs in Bali.  They knew the risks and they took them.  At the end of the day, they have no one to blame but themselves for their current situation.  Sure, they're rehabilitated, and if they were in Australia they would have the chance to make amends for their situation.  However, they're not, and that was their choice.  At the end of the day, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Finally, the whole hoo-hah about the Australian Feds tipping off the Indonesian Police instead of waiting for these people to return to Australian soil. At the end of the day the Feds made a decision based on the information that they had at the time.  Was it the wrong one? I don't think anyone has the answer to that.