Abdullah Defends Death Penalty For Drug Traffickers

From Mokhtar Hussein

PERTH, Feb 22 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Wednesday defended death penalty imposed on drug traffickers, saying it was a "right kind of punishment" as drug addiction was a menace to the Asian society.

Abdullah said he would not think death penalty passed on those found guilty of drug trafficking as harsh as they caused serious problems to society.

"Yes, we are very harsh on drug (offences). It is a threat to the well-being of our society," he said in response to questions during a news conference after receiving the honorary doctorate of technology from the Curtin University of Technology at a special ceremony here.

The Prime Minister described how a person who became addicted to drugs would pose serious problems to his family and the society.

"I have seen enough of what happened to these people. They have no shame because they are in pain. We have tried to rehabilitate them but eventually they will go back to addiction," he said.

Abdullah said a person addicted to drugs would do anything to get money, even to the extent of stealing from their parents, and eventually they became traffickers.

"How can we tolerate this. That's why many (Asian) governments imposed severe penalties on drugs," he said.

Two Australians, Brian Chambers and Kevin Barlow, were hanged in Malaysia in 1986 after they were found guilty for heroin trafficking.

Michael McAuliffe, a barman from Sydney, was executed in 1993 after he was arrested at the Penang International Airport with 141gms of heroin in his money belt.

Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke had described the sentence as "barbaric".

An Australian national was also sentenced to death by a Singapore court last December on drug trafficking charges, and last week, two Australians were sentenced to death by a court in Bali, Indonesia, for the same offences.

Responding to another question on ways to close the gap between the Muslim world and the West, the Prime Minister said he had offered Kuala Lumpur as a venue to hold dialogues to promote tolerance and to thrash out differences in opinion between the two cultures.

Asked about his opinion on Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), Abdullah said the group was a threat to regional stability as it promoted terrorism.

"It became a threat to stability because the members are promoting changes the way they want it to be," he added.

Abdullah returned to Kuala Lumpur in the evening after a two-day visit here.

-- BERNAMA