OPINION: This morning Australia woke to the news Indonesia had killed two men. An artist and a minister. A brother and a son. Friends, lovers, a husband, drug smugglers.
Today, the country is in shock and many people don’t know what to feel. Some are angry, some are sad. Some are calling for a boycott and some believe they got what they deserve.
All I know is that I won’t be going to Indonesia.
As many people held vigils and made videos in the days leading up to their execution, I felt frustration at the outpouring of emotion that ultimately didn’t prevent their deaths.
I wanted to do something, anything, that would hit Indonesia where it hurts and make President Widodo realise the death penalty is not OK
Today as the Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced they would recall Australia’s ambassador to Indonesia, social media is filled with calls to boycott the country and cut the $650 million aid budget — something Ms Bishop said would be left to May to decide.
For me, it’s not about cutting aid. I don’t want people in need to suffer or those who rely on tourism to be forced to close their doors. But I do want people in Australia and Indonesia to realise their actions can force governments to change.
Overnight, Filipina woman Mary Jane Veloso, 30, was spared the death penalty. The single mother of two had been convicted of drug smuggling but maintained her innocence — claiming she was exploited by traffickers en route to a job as a maid in a case that captured the hearts of the Indonesian public.
While her 11th hour reprieve was due to someone coming forward in her case, — which her lawyers argue is a case of human trafficking rather than drug trafficking — who knows how much of an impact the publicity had in encouraging them to speak out?
There’s no doubt governments respond to public pressure. We’ve seen it in Peter Dutton’s indication he would review the Tyrone Sevilla case after a petition with thousands of signatures asking for him to be granted a visa to stay in Australia. We’ve seen it in the US where legislators were forced to change a law after a backlash from major companies and celebrities over fears it could mean businesses would deny service to homosexuals on religious grounds.
In this case, President Widodo has remained deaf to calls from leaders from Australia and other nations. Pleas from family members and an unprecedented call from Ban Ki Moon, the secretary-general of the UN, couldn’t move him. Perhaps next time, he might listen.
Some say Sukumaran and Chan broke the law, knew the penalty and deserve their fate. That drugs hurt families and there’s no doubt they do. But two wrongs don’t make a right.
Killing on top of killing doesn’t mean salvation. It ignores their obvious rehabilitation, the complex elements that make up a person and means they’re forever defined by something they once did.
It’s not something that should happen to anyone. It’s not worth being put to death. And it’s certainly not worth a cheap ticket to Bali.
Rest in peace.
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