Death penalty needed: Steven

BY JEFFREY ELAPA
THERE is nothing wrong if the death penalty is imposed on drug abusers as a deterrent, says acting Justice Minister and Attorney-General Davis Steven.
He said there was an increase in drug abuse and crimes associated with drugs.
Steven highlighted the impact of transnational crime, with PNG being used as a transitional point in international navigation and marine passage.
“In the last 12 months, we had two major drug busts (in) which (we were) assisted by regional (partners) to catch some of them.”
He warned that international crime syndicates were using the outer islands as transit points for their drug trafficking operations.
Steven said what we needed to do was to:
l Have an active and well-resourced and funded Narcotics Bureau that is active, well-resourced and funded to deal with the problem; and,
l Have skilled prosecutors and detectives to investigate and present a good case when offenders are caught. “Our country is unprotected. We leave (ourselves) open to (trading of) drugs,” he said.
Steven suggested that an awareness should be carried out by networking with non-governmental organisations and churches to monitor the issue.
“Parliament must also look at how we react to drug abuses in the country.
“Do we sit back and be lenient or do we take a stand and make a tough decision to make sure there is severe penalties on drug abusers so it serves as a deterrent?”
“The Constitution has allowed us (to use) the death penalty (as a deterrent).
“Other countries have adopted the death penalty as a deterrent like Indonesia.”