“Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation”
William Shakespeare – The Merchant of Venice
On his 24th birthday in 2005, Australian citizen,
Myuran Sukumaran was arrested by Indonesian police in a hotel on the island of Bali. In the room at the time
of his arrest was a suit case containing 334 g
(11.8 oz) of heroin,
part of a 8.3kg consignment destined for Australia. Along with eight
others arrested on that day and dubbed the Bali 9, Sukumaran and fellow
Australian, Andrew Chan were considered the ring
leaders.
In
February the following year Sukumaran was found guilty of drug trafficking by
an Indonesian court and sentenced to death by firing squad. In 2011 Sukumaran’s
death sentence was confirmed by the Indonesian Supreme Court after an appeal against
the severity of his sentence was rejected by the Bali High Court. He subsequently
lodged a request clemency with the then Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
During his eight years on death row at the Kerobokan Prison, Sukumaran has been described by prison officials as a model prisoner.
Apart from admitting his guilt and expressing remorse, Sukumaran has taught English,
computer, graphic design and philosophy classes to his fellow inmates
and was instrumental in setting up a computer and art room. In 2010
Sukumaran started a fine arts degree by correspondence with Western Australia’s
Curtin University.
Proceeds from an exhibition
of Sukumaran’s work held in the Victorian capital city of Melbourne along with
the income generated by a T-shirt printing factory he set up inside the jail
have made the programs financially self sufficient. "I'm
using my organizational skills for good instead of evil," Sukumaran has said.
Sukumaran's Australian
supporters convinced Australian artist Ben Quilty to coach Sukumaran in his
artistic quest. For three years Quilty has been visiting Sukumaran, about whom
he says “He’s my friend. He’s a profoundly powerful person. No matter what
happens, this shows the power of art, which I didn’t get until I spent time
with this man on death row in Kerobokan prison.”
For the last two years Quilty
has also been entering Sukumaran’s self portraits in the Archibald Prize. In spite
of any artistic merit, Sukumaran’s paintings will never be hung; he doesn't meet the Prize’s residency requirements. A fact, as a previous winner of the
Archibald, Quilty should be well aware of. But as a publicity stunt it was
worked exceedingly well. News sources around the world have picked up on the story
of the Indonesian prisoner entering his art in Australia’s most prestigious art
award and consequently back grounded Sukumaran’s efforts at rehabilitation.
Unfortunately for Sukumaran
this has cut no ice and perhaps even to spite these efforts the new Indonesian
President Joko Widodo has rejected Sukumaran’s plea for clemency. “There is insufficient reason to give clemency to those convicted,” said
the presidential decree signed by Widodo on the 30th of December
last year. And according to the Australian newspaper, Widodo has announced “there will be no clemency at all for drug traffickers.”
It is an interesting message
Widodo is sending to the Indonesian people. To quote Shakespeare again “The quality of
mercy is not strain’d … it becomes the throned monarch better than his crown.”
Or in the more prosaic words of Myuran Sukumaran upon hearing about his fate, "I've been walking around feeling
like someone's punched me in the stomach. Is there no such thing as
rehabilitation? Can't someone change? What use will executing us be?"
No comments:
Post a Comment