Indonesia's zero tolerance drug laws leave hundreds on death row

By Asmin Fransiska / The Jakarta Post

Indonesia’s war on drugs has been a feature of the country’s heavy-handed criminal justice system. Over half of Indonesia’s 404 death row inmates are facing execution for drug-related charges, making it — alongside countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia — one of the most dangerous countries in the world to possess or sell drugs. And the crackdown has recently gained strength: of Indonesia’s 94 death sentences recorded since the start of the pandemic, 80 were for drug-related offences (seven of whom were foreign nationals).

Support for the ‘zero tolerance’ approach is partly based on the idea that Indonesia’s laws promote deterrence. However the data tell a different story. Since the most recent execution of a convicted drug offender in April 2016, prosecution for drug trafficking in Indonesia has kept rising. This suggests that the movement of drugs into Indonesia hasn’t slowed, despite a long and concentrated effort from authorities.

This failure has many culprits: corrupt bureaucracy within law enforcement, cultural issues within the legal field (such as tolerance of bribery), and socio-economic factors that see the poor, marginalised and victims of other crimes over-represented in the drug trade.

This article was published in thejakartapost.com with the title "Indonesia’s zero tolerance drug laws leave hundreds on death row - Academia - The Jakarta Post". Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2022/08/31/indonesias-zero-tolerance-drug-laws-leave-hundreds-on-death-row.html.

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Indonesia's zero tolerance drug laws leave hundreds on death row

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