I’m no fan of this hardliner, but him asking for clemency for two drug traffickers from Australia on the death row in Indonesia was the right thing to do.
The outrage of the Indonesians is understandable, because those drug traffickers destroyed numerous lives. However, nothing ever justifies the death penalty.
So while his reference to the relief aid from 2004 may have been out of line, the cause is just.
As long as no justice system is infallible, death penalty isn’t justified. And even if it were infallible, the question becomes whether this is the right way of treating humans.
// Oliver
PS: on a related note, Texas is about to kill an innocent man.