INDONESIA: GOVERNMENT POSTPONES EXECUTIONS TO FOCUS ON ECONOMY, TIES

Indonesia said that the government has postponed planned executions of drug traffickers as it focuses on fixing the economy, which is growing at its slowest pace in six years. Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Luhut Panjaitan, denied reports that the Indonesian government had declared a moratorium on the death penalty last month. Asked by a reporter after a meeting with Australian government representatives in his office in Jakarta on Thursday (November 19), he said the moratorium would not be permanent. "I told the Australia representatives that we're not carrying out further executions when our economy is still in a bad shape. We should concentrate more on the economy," Panjaitan said.  What that Indonesian government wants right now, according to Panjaitan, is to maintain a healthy relationship with every neigbouring country, including Australia. Indonesia and Australia have normalised economic and political partnership in the last two months. "The government needs to focus on Indonesia's economy first," he stressed. Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of drug traffickers Bali Nine, were among several foreigners who were executed in April. The execution ignited tensions between both countries. After taking office last year, President Joko Widodo signed off on the execution of more than 60 prisoners.
The Attorney General's Office claimed that it was ready to carry out a third round of executions. However, after the international backlash in April, no further signs of that policy have been realized.