While the execution of Andrew Chan and Sukarmana is over, the discussions and recriminations is continuing.
John Birmingham in today's (2 May 2015) Sydney Morning Herald called Widodo a "weak man" for sanctioning the execution and went on to say
"Drugs are not the gravest problem facing Indonesia; that would be the massive shadow state of corrupt officials directly profiting, not just from the drug trade but from the criminal exploitation of an entire country for the benefit of a small elite."
So until they sort out their corruption, everything should be free for all. The Indonesians could quite rightly called it "Neo-Colonialism"; after all Sukarno invented the word. The same words could justifiably be used by the British in sending opium to China. The Chinese themselves admitted the government was corrupt to the core then.
It wasn't that long ago that Indonesian was heralded as the success story of democracy by our side of global politics faced with crumbling economies in many Western nations and eager to counter the rising tide of monolithic and non-democratic China. Indeed Indonesia has progressed, at least visually through the media, in terms of allowing TV footages of the lives of death-row prisoners. They had outdone even the United States on that. The Australian government is still yet to allow TV cameras into refugees camps.
John Birmingham in today's (2 May 2015) Sydney Morning Herald called Widodo a "weak man" for sanctioning the execution and went on to say
"Drugs are not the gravest problem facing Indonesia; that would be the massive shadow state of corrupt officials directly profiting, not just from the drug trade but from the criminal exploitation of an entire country for the benefit of a small elite."
So until they sort out their corruption, everything should be free for all. The Indonesians could quite rightly called it "Neo-Colonialism"; after all Sukarno invented the word. The same words could justifiably be used by the British in sending opium to China. The Chinese themselves admitted the government was corrupt to the core then.
It wasn't that long ago that Indonesian was heralded as the success story of democracy by our side of global politics faced with crumbling economies in many Western nations and eager to counter the rising tide of monolithic and non-democratic China. Indeed Indonesia has progressed, at least visually through the media, in terms of allowing TV footages of the lives of death-row prisoners. They had outdone even the United States on that. The Australian government is still yet to allow TV cameras into refugees camps.
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