Retired General Agrees To Impoverish Corruption Convicts

Cirebon, W Java, Oct 17 (Antara) - Retired army general Pramono Edhie Wibowo said he agreed with the idea of impoverishing corruption convicts to discourage people from committing corruption. "Human beings fear two things - death and being destitute," the former army chief of staff said when speaking before the students of the state Islamic Institute here on Thursday. He said corruption causes many people to suffer and hampers efforts to modernize the country and improve the people`s welfare. If someone commit corruption or cause many other people to suffer, he deserves death penalty or impoverishment, he said, answering a question from one of the students. The punishment should have deterrent effect that people would not risk committing the same crimes, he said. "People fear death that they would not dare to commit corruption. But death penalty is against human rights and could trigger controversy," he said. "Then give them a terrifying threat that could leave them in destitution. People also fear being impoverished, that they would think ten times before committing that crime," he added. He said for people, who are used to live in luxury, living in poverty is more than half dead. The brother-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a strong candidate for the ruling Democratic Party for the next presidential election in 2014.