Capital punishment, in this particular instance, should send a clear message to potential Australian drug mules that the death sentence in Indonesia is a real possibility.

Every Australian now knows Indonesia is serious about applying the death penalty to convicted drug smugglers. There is no excuse for anyone in the future to expect less.

Is the death penalty a deterrent? Back in the 70's Iran announced plans to shoot drug smugglers at the border; the trafficking stopped very soon after a handful of foreigners were shot.

We need to teach our youth about personal consequences, a concept that seems to have gone out the window.

Foxy,

"....society is demeaned when the state kills its
citizens,...."

In this case the state wasn't killing its own citizens.

Very sad to see the guys killed especially after such a long time. It seems that the lawyers love stringing things out in INdonesia just like Australia. Pretending that the death penalty is not a deterrent however is dishonest and impossible to prove. Personally I think the INdonesian system is far more humane (to victims) than our pathecically weak judges who give slaps over the wrist for murder, rape and other gross crimes. Pity not as much outcry for the murder of unborn babies.

Fox, "..while others seem to feel that human life is sacred"

You set up a false dilemma or false dichotomy.

In fact it is easily argued that those who would preserve the hundreds of thousands of lives that could have been seriously harmed or lost through the drugs they trafficked are far more concerned about the sanctity of life than you are.

Why hasn't anyone mentioned that the first indication of remorse as any Australian court would have it would be the convicts giving up their co-conspirators. This pair never did that. It is damned nonsense that they would not have known more as recruiters, enforcers and king pins themselves in the trafficking.

Why hasn't the 'fact-checking' ABC set its reporter sleuths onto the Asian gang behind the trafficking? How the federal government and immigration officials manage to allow the gang criminals in to set that up? File it with the other ethnic gangs, going well back too, to the importation of the Italian Mafia that Labor's minister of the Whitlam government and father of multiculturalism, Al Grassby was so damned friendly with (and his Labor mates have always feigned ignorance of).

Now the feared Russian mafia are well established on the Gold Coast and probably other centres.

However the media pack is mopping up and moving on to the next alleged trafficker, involving 30kg of methamphetamine (ice). At a stout 30milligrams a dose that would a million Aussie youth lives forever changed through introduction to a cruel, one way trip to dying in their own body fluids.

The commentariat will follow and doubtless soon we will be reading posts about corrupt China, Abbott's fault etc. The wasler celeb flanneled fools on their couches will be demanding that Abbott do a personal rescue mission in China. The resident expert on multiculturalism, courts and diplomacy on The Conversation will be hitching a ride on the wagon and the media circus goes on.

Meanwhile OMG bikies are the security staff at night venues and concerts and taking care of some very profitable business at the same time. How do parents feel?

Re: "Mark Knight sums it up well in this poignant cartoon today...

http://twitter.com/Knightcartoons/status/593287355810713603

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran aren't sweet innocent butterflies; moths perhaps but not butterflies in my opinion.

onthebeach,
I think you will find that the Russian Mafia have complete control of most security business in Australia. They just employ Tongans, Maoris and Pacific Islanders because hey can get them into the country via NZ very easily.
As far as the executions are concerned it seems to me that most people never listened to Cesar when he said "When in Rome do as the Romans do"
We may not believe in the death penalty as a nation (personally I do} but the Indonesian government does and they have laws that say we can and will execute you.
That is the whole point. These bloke were in their country, they new the rules and they chose to take the risk and ignore them. The got their hearts blasted out for their trouble.
It does not matter what they were or what they became the fact is that they broke their law and the paid for it.
I am getting the video tomorrow and will post it. I am surprised they released to bodies because the show the head shot being administered by an officer because it takes ten to fifteen minutes to bleed out.
We could use the death penalty here for pedephiles and tax dogers.