President Joko Widodo of Indonesia on Saturday
instructed law enforcement officers to shoot drug
traffickers to deal with a narcotics emergency
facing the country.
“Be firm, especially to foreign drug dealers who
enter the country and resist arrest.
“Shoot them because we indeed are in a narcotics
emergency position now,” Widodo said in a
speech delivered at an event held by one of
Indonesia’s political parties.
His remarks have drawn comparison to that of
Philippine’s President Rodrigo Duterte, who
launched a brutal anti-drug crackdown about a
year ago that saw many alleged drug dealers
killed.
The bloody campaign in the Phillipines has drawn
condemnation from the international community,
including the UN.
Indonesia also has tough laws against drugs.
Widodo has previously been criticised for ordering
executions against convicted drug traffickers who
were given a death penalty by the court.
Rights activists and some governments have
called on Indonesia to abolish the death penalty.
Friday’s shooting order from Widodo came a
week after Indonesian police shot dead a
Taiwanese man in a town near the capital Jakarta.
Police said the man, who was part of a group
trying to smuggle one tonne of crystal
methamphetamine into the country, was killed for
resisting arrest.
After the incident, Indonesian National Police chief
Tito Karnavian was quoted by the media saying
he had ordered officers not to hesitate shooting
drug dealers who resist arrest.
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