D

ec. 10, p2

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo is upholding his plan to enforce the death penalty for drug convicts, citing the crime'€™s devastating impact on the country'€™s young generations. During a public lecture at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta on Tuesday, Jokowi emphasized that the government would not be merciful in dealing with narcotics-related crime in the country.

He said that he would reject requests for clemency for 64 drug traffickers who are currently on death row. '€œ[The clemency requests] are not on my table yet. But I guarantee that there will be no clemency for convicts who committed narcotics-related crimes,'€ Jokowi told his audience. Jokowi explained that such a
firm and harsh approach was necessary to combat the widespread use of narcotics.

Your comments:

Cigarettes cause 10,000s deaths in Indonesia every year. Will this dangerous drug be banned? Of course not, they are welcome to advertise to kids too.

JLC

National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) commissioner Roichatul Aswidah should realize that a supplier is able to distribute drugs to thousands of users, most of whom are youngsters.

Drugs exist not only in prisons but also in schools, including boarding schools.

Resi Adiyasa

Concentrate on the sellers, distributors, manufacturers inside the country. Catch them and wind up their operations. That would be a good start!

Drug dealers, smugglers, street-sellers etc. all had the choice '€” deal drugs, or find an honest job. They'€™ve only got themselves to blame. Good decision Jokowi! Keep up the good work!

Terry McAsee

Oplosan (bootleg alcohol) is also a drug that kills many Indonesians, Mr. President. Corruption has also a very devastating impact on the country'€™s well-being.

The Indonesian government thinks the country will be drug free in 2015-keep on dreaming! There'€™s no country in the whole world that can achieve that, even if they hang all drug perpetrators.

Azwar Barena

When we convict prison bosses and police chiefs whose staff distribute drugs and give them a serious sentence, we will believe that the war on drugs has started.  Till then, we are just pretending.

Deedee S.

Human rights activists, just because Jokowi didn'€™t do what you told him, it doesn'€™t mean that he wasn'€™t listening!

Fussion B.

I too support tough punishment coupled with national educational efforts.

The consequences of breaking the law should be the same for both nationals and non-citizens, with one condition '€” there is adequate notice and information for travelers. One critical weak link in the fight against illegal drug use is the generally easy complicity and participation of law enforcement personnel for the right price.

Jamse Waworoendeng