SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean prosecutors on Monday
demanded the death penalty for the captain of a ferry that sank earlier this
year, killing more than 300 people, blaming his negligence and failure to rescue
passengers in need for the massive loss of life, a court official and news
reports said. Associated
Press.
This is morally untenable. To execute where there
has been 'malice aforethought' is thoroughly reasonable but to do so on grounds
of negligence is horrendous. To execute to punish evil is one thing, to do so because
of the convicted person's utter stupidity and cowardice is quite something
else.
