Devil's Advocate

This isn't the image I was going to post, but I suspect that if I had posted that, it wouldn't have been up long.
 
I've hummed and hawed over whether or not to post this, but I saw the most ridiculous comment on someone's blip today and just had to say something. I'm sure it won't be a popular view but I hope that I don't lose any friends over it. It's just my opinion...
 
Firstly, I would like to say without reservation that my thoughts are with the families of all those executed in Indonesia yesterday. They are perhaps the only innocents in this whole bloody mess.
 
It's also very sad that 8 more lives have been lost to the drug trade and this post isn't about the arguments for or against capital punishment. I have my own opinion on that, something that has lead to many a lively discussion with friends. It would be hypocritical for me to stand back from that view now (besides he still peruses my journal so I couldn't if I tried) but I'm probably more willing to admit that I was wrong than I was before. In my defence though, I don't think the crimes that these people were convicted of at all warrant a death sentence. However, everyone is well aware of the policy of the Indonesian government with regards to drug offences. Perhaps the fact that they'd become more lenient in recent years made traffickers more bold but nobody went into this with their eyes closed.
 
Aside from those directly affected by it, the first time the public/press seems to have taken an interest in any of these cases was when the two Australians were sentenced. I'll admit now to not particularly having followed it since either apart from headline scanning and skimming through a couple of articles but from what I gather, the guilt or innocence of these two men has not been questioned. I might be wrong about that but I believe that the Australian government offered to pay for their life imprisonment if their sentences were commuted. There was also talk of rehabilitation in custody. I don't know if that was an acceptance of their guilt or just an attempt to keep them alive to continue exploring diplomatic avenues.  In any case, this post really isn't about their innocence or guilt either.  Obviously, if there is any doubt about it then as such it would be a disgraceful and unjustifiable miscarriage of justice. However, IF these men were guilty of the crimes they committed I would ask that you consider this.
 
Do you think for one minute that either of them gave a moment's thought to the hundreds or perhaps thousands of Australians that would have died or have helped to their death if they had succeeded in exporting their product?