Capital punishment is part of the laws. It needs to be carried outJakarta (ANTARA) - National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Chief Commissioner General Heru Winarko discussed issues related to Indonesia's war on drug, including a need to execute death row convicts, with top security minister, Mahfud MD, in Jakarta on Thursday. "Capital punishment is part of the laws. It needs to be carried out," Winarko told journalists following his meeting with the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD.
In fact, many death row prisoners for drug offences had not yet been executed. Besides this issue, he also discussed several other matters, including drugs in prison.
The easiest way to deal with the cases of drugs in prison was ensuring the unavailability of communication networks inside penitentiaries to stop drug transactions, he opined.
The drug trade in prison remained a questionable problem, BNN Eradication Division Deputy Inspector General Arman Depari admitted.
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In fact, drug convicts serving their jail terms were able to control the trade through their drug rings, he said, adding many death row convicts of drug offences have not yet been executed.
Indonesia remains under grave threat from drug dealers, as several individuals from its working-age population have been embroiled in a vicious circle.
According to the National Narcotics Agency's report, some 50 drug use-related deaths occur in Indonesia. However, their deaths have failed to deter other drug users in the country from consuming these banned substances.
Users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other addictive drugs transcend communities and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
Hence, Indonesia is perceived by both domestic and trans-national drug dealers as a potential market due to its huge population and millions of drug users. The drug trade in the country is estimated to reach nearly Rp66 trillion.
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In response to the illicit drugs that drug kingpins have smuggled into and traded in the country over the past few decades, the Indonesian government continues to apply punitive measures against them.
Earlier, the Indonesian authorities announced that 14 death row prisoners convicted in drug-related cases would face the firing squad.
In July 2016, Indonesia executed four death row inmates for drug trafficking. They were drug kingpin Freddy Budiman of Indonesia, Humprey Ejike and Michael Titus of Nigeria, as well as Seck Osmane, a Nigerian national holding a Senegalese passport.
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The convicts faced the firing squad at the Tunggal Panaluan shooting range in Nusakambangan Island off Central Javas southern coast at 12:46 a.m. local time on July 29, 2016.
Ten inmates, however, escaped the third wave of executions on July 29, 2016. The 10 were Merry Utami, Pujo Lestari, and Agus Hadi of Indonesia; Zulfiqar Ali of Pakistan; Gurdip Singh of India; Onkonkwo Nonso Kingsley, Obina Nwajagu, Eugene Ape, and Ozias Sibanda and Frederik Luttar of Zimbabwe.
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Translator: Zuhdiar Laeis, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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