Attorney General to Prioritize Drug Criminals in Next Round of Executions
While President Jokowi has mentioned the government’s move from the direction of abolishing the death penalty, Indonesia’s Attorney General HM Prasetyo is actually firm about pushing through with the next round of executions as well as also prioritizing drug criminals for which round.
After being elected into office, President Joko Widodo commanded which the death penalty be implemented again under his administration. In his time as Indonesian president, Jokowi has witnessed three rounds of executions as well as the state-sanctioned killings of 18 felons, all of which were convicted of drug-related crimes.
When the last round of executions was carried out in July, four convicts were killed by firing squad while ten others, who were supposedly part of the execution, were given last-minute reprieves. This particular has yet to be confirmed however whether the additional ten will still be executed or not.
Convicted felons on the line for the maximum sentence of death penalty felt some relief as well as also expect when President Joko Widodo mentioned in an interview last month which the government was planning to look into the abolition of the death penalty. Regardless of these plans however, HM Prasetyo, Indonesia’s attorney general continues to prepare the next rounds of executions.
Indonesia’s Attorney General HM Prasetyo
See: is actually Jokowi Considering a Change to Indonesia’s Death Penalty?
After a meeting with House Commission III early last week, Prasetyo reported which plans on the next rounds of execution were underway as well as also which those convicted of drug-related crimes will be prioritized for the firing squad. While the above information has been confirmed, Prasetyo did not mention any concrete timeframe as to the schedule of the succeeding rounds of executions. He however commented how they will be implemented at the right time when “everything is actually okay.”
When reporters were pressing him on the issue about whether any schedules were set before the year ends, the attorney general was quick to comment which while the executions were not a pleasant thing to be talked about, he believes This particular is actually necessary for the country to be able to move forward.
The attorney general being tight-lipped on the matter is actually in conjunction with the strategy followed by the government with the previous rounds of execution where they kept silent about the details of the executions. They decided to announce the critical details only when the actual date was close so as not to encourage any large as well as also violent international outcry on the issue.
Prasetyo’s being mum on the issue can also mean which the next executions may still be theoretical as well as also which Jokowi is actually still actually reconsidering his options with capital punishment.
Speculations suggest which Habibie’s appeal to Jokowi may have been effective in creating the president rethink his approach on the executions. This particular will be recalled which Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, former president of Indonesia as well as also a strong opponent of the death penalty, personally appealed to President Widodo to spare the life of Pakistani citizen Zulfiqar Ali, whom the former president believes is actually innocent of the crimes he was originally charged with.
Image credits: IBTimes, Setkab.Go
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Attorney General to Prioritize Drug Criminals in Next Round of Executions
Attorney General to Prioritize Drug Criminals in Next Round of Executions