Comments published on the Borneo Bulletin caused some...

Comments published on the Borneo Bulletin caused some heated debate on the death penalty. In a letter to the Bulletin editor, a reader who called himself HotBot reacted fiercely to the comments made by Hamba Allah, saying "you said that they, the drug pushers, should be given a second chance to live and not to die. You should know that the death penalty is an international law and not something created by our government. Have you seen drug pushers being given a second chance in any other country besides Brunei? You don't seem to realise that if they were given a second chance to cleanse themselves from doing wrong, they will commit the same crime again and again." In response to this, another reader who defined himself as a Pro-Life Supporter pointed out "firstly, the use of the death penalty is not an international law. It has been imposed by the Brunei government to safeguard the interests of this fine nation. Countries such as Britain and other European Union member nations do not practise the death penalty as it contravenes the human right laws in the EU. In fact, the UN Declaration of Human Rights states that all human beings have the right to life. Also, HotBot's claim that the drug pushers, once released from prison, will commit the same crimes is untrue and based entirely on speculation. One final point: if an individual is caught pushing drugs, naturally he will be convicted. That does not imply that he will face execution."