I Stick to What I Believe In

The coverage of the recent executions of the men responsible for the 2002 Bali bomb blast included some anti-death penalty victims' voices, such as this article posted this past Friday on a Western Australia online news site, "Bali Victim's Father Doesn't Want the Death Penalty":

He lost his son in the Bali atrocities six years ago, but David Hancock does not think the three men responsible for the bombings should lose their lives as a consequence.

As Indonesian authorities prepare to execute Imam Samudra, 38, Amrozi, 47, and his brother Mukhlas, 48 - with the wooden stakes they will be tied to before the firing squads reportedly now in place - the families of victims yet again have to live through their loss and pain.

Mr Hancock was one of those victims, with his son Byron among the seven members of the Kingsley Football Club killed by the bombs in Paddy's Bar and the Sari club, where Byron was enjoying his end-of-season trip.

And while his father describes the renewed coverage and interest in the days leading up to the scheduled executions as a kind of torture, he still does not believe the right thing is being done in killing the perpetrators.

"Nothing tests your position on something until something like this happens to you," Mr Hancock said.

"I have seriously examined my issues and I stick to what I believe in.

"I think it degrades human life to take the life of another, and I just do not believe it is in the interest of the community to do so.

"It destroys people and I put myself in the position of those people in Indonesia who might be called on to execute these people and what it does to them.

"I respect the Indonesians to establish their own laws and deal with these things how they think - but I am of a view, regardless of what has happened to our family, that it is an improper thing and should not be done."


In July, we posted a story about another family member of the Bali bombing who spoke out against the death penalty.