TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Newly-installed head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), Insp. Gen. Heru Winarko, said he would continue the programs of his predecessor, Budi Waseso, including gunning down drug dealers who resisted arrest.
He added the authorities would open fire on suspects who fought back when arrested and jeopardized his personnel or any other member of the authorities.
“If we meet resistance, there is no other choice but to execute them,” said Heru.
Heru said he would also continue seeking death penalty for drug dealers as the law stipulated. “If the charge is death penalty, then they will be on death row,” he continued.
Previously, narcotics policy analyst of the LBH Masyarakat, Yohan Misero, appealed to the government to stop using death penalty as a symbol of success in the country's battle against narcotics.
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According to Yohan, the Jokowi administration has condemned 18 drug convicts to date.
“By the end of last year, the BNN announced that 79 people implicated in narcotics cases had been executed without proper judicial process and they also announced it as if it was an achievement,” wrote Yohan.
According to BNN’s data, drug trafficking has been steadily on the rise each year. Thus, he claimed repressive approaches against procedures, such as gunning down and executing drug dealers, which he said was also a clear violation against human rights, must cease.
IMAM HAMDI
