Daniel: The example you gave is a law itself: Self-defense. If I kill a person who was trying to harm me or my family, it's not punishable by death in most cases. And I'm sure what you just said as well are all covered by the governments in each country (penalties for specific criminal acts according to severity etc..)
This topic is subject to personal opinion, and shouldn't be debated as we will get nowhere.
You should always go down to the roots, or the foundation of the death penalty.. and that as well depends on your own beliefs and faith.
For me, as a Christian, I believe that the Bible is the foundation of everything, and God Himself established the death penalty to His people, the Jews. ALSO, the Bible clearly states that the authorities on earth (ie; the governments), are there because God put them there (Romans 13) and that the people governed by those authorities MUST submit to them, for they bear the sword for a reason (authority to execute punishment to laws they put up).
Now again, those are my beliefs/faith, and IM SURE someone would attest to that, and Im not up for debate. I already started a topic about this on another forum and it had 200+ posts.
Colin had it right on: They had that law. Van got caught (as well as Chapelle, Leslie, and Bali 9). There's no excuse for them not to be subject to the consequence of that law (Unless proven innocent of all charges).. or if the country where the crime was commited have certain degrees/levels of punishment which depends on the crime's severity (ex: amount of drugs smuggled, etc.) So again, it's up to the country involved and they have every right to uphold that law. If it's majorly inconsiderate (ex: death for kids under 13 who steal), then just hope the constitution won't stand very long.. but in the meantime, do your best to obey the law.