Controversies Remain in Executions of Drug Dealers
The continuous flow of narcotics into the country is increasingly worrying. Law enforcement agencies have yet to agree on a formula for effective prevention and punitive actions.
By
·4 minutes read
Kompas/Rhama Purna Jati
Navy personnel guard 1 ton and 29 kilograms of sabu (crystal methamphetamine) at a Naval Base in Batam, Batu Ampar, Riau Islands, on Saturday (10/02). The crystal meth was confiscated from the MV Sunrise Glory, which was apprehended by Navy personnel in the Philips Straits, Riau Islands, on Wednesday (7/2). The drugs were packed in 41 rice bags.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Law enforcement efforts to eradicate narcotics continue. However, smuggling attempts are becoming increasingly daring. One sting operation can lead to tons of narcotics being seized, and new types of narcotics continue to emerge.
National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Insp. Gen. Heru Winarko said that firm and measured actions against drug dealers remained the best course of action. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has also urged the BNN to eradicate narcotics by cutting off supply lines – 80 percent of which is coming from abroad – and reduce the prevalence of drug addicts.
“We take our actions firmly, measurably and in line with the law. If dealers are armed, resisting arrest and endangering our officers, we will take firm actions,” Heru said.
In the field, a number of drug arrests have led to dealers being shot to death.
Death sentence
Regarding capital punishment on drug dealers, controversies remain. A number of parties, including the police and BNN officers, have encouraged capital punishment for drug dealers due to their large role in increasing the number of drug addicts nationwide, which currently stands at more than 6 million people.
Capital punishment for drug dealers is most common during President Jokowi’s administration, with 14 drug convicts being sent to death row.
“As delays on death sentences continue, the controversy will snowball and get larger and it can be used as a political commodity,” Al-Azhar University criminal law expert Suparji Achmad said on Tuesday (6/3/2018).
Rampant drug smuggling efforts are not comparable to drug eradication efforts. Punitive actions have no deterrent effects.
Human rights activists are divided on this issue.
“We reject capital punishment as no one person, let alone the state, can take another person life,” said Setara Institute director Hendardi.
The controversy surrounding capital punishment is reflected on the presence of Sakti (Setuju Hukuman Mati or agree with capital punishment) and Hati (Hapus Hukuman Mati or end capital punishment) groups that emerged in the mid-1980s. Heated debate between the two groups occurred until the early 2000s.
In response to the controversy, Attorney General HM Prasetyo said that the government would cease all death sentences for now. The element of prudence must not be neglected in this issue. As of February 2018, he said, death sentences in more than 100 narcotics cases have been delayed.
Change the system
Amid the huge number of narcotics cases and no agreement on how to tackle them, former BNN chief Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso said that a change to the system, including the prison system, was needed.
Currently, 50 percent of narcotics cases are controlled from behind bars as corrupt law enforcers are cooperating with drug convicts. In 2017, more than 90 percent of cases handled by the BNN involved some control from behind bars.
“This will never stop […] if we don’t change. Pak Heru [newly appointed BNN chief Heru Winarko] will be overwhelmed without help from penitentiaries,” Budi said.
He proposed that all drug convicts be imprisoned in a special penitentiary located on a frontier island. He said that he had spoken about this with President Joko Widodo, but no follow-up had been made.
Regarding the issue of death-row drug convicts controlling their businesses from behind bars, Hendardi said: “This is due to prison mismanagement.”
Another proposal on tackling the drug problem was made by the head of the University of Indonesia’s Indonesian Judicial Watch Society (MaPPI UI), Choky R Ramadhan, who said the BNN should use the Money Laundering Law in drug eradication efforts. Thus far, eradicating narcotics is too focused on punitive actions or retaliations, and not on targeting the money laundering schemes of drug lords.
By using the Money Laundering Law, the government could seize larger sums of money from arrested drug lords. Law enforcers would be able to seize wealth obtained from narcotics businesses and cut off drug lords’ access to money.
At the same time, drug users must be rehabilitated as they are deemed as victims.
Indonesian Drug Victim Advocacy Brotherhood (PKNI) national coordinator Edo Agustian said that massive drug arrests were just one of three strategies in tackling the rising flood of narcotics, which includes cutting off drug supply lines, reducing demand and reducing harmful effects.
Massive drug arrests are only about cutting of drug supply lines. The government is urged to use multiple strategies at the same time.
