66 Drug Convicts On Death Row Awaiting Execution: BNN

Jakarta, Jan 17 (Antara) -- Following the execution of six drug convicts on the death penalty on January 18, 66 narcotics convicts sentenced to death will be awaiting their turn to be executed, the Indonesian National Anti-Narcotics Agency (BNN) said. "Following the execution of six inmates sentenced to death for drug-related charges, 66 narcotics convicts will be awaiting execution," Public Relations Officer of the BNN Senior Commissioner Sumirat Dwiyanto stated here on Saturday. The total of 66 drug convicts on the death penalty was determined based on the number of suspects who received the heaviest sentence from the court till 2014, which was 64, in addition to the two Iranian nationals who were recently sentenced to death by the Cibadak District Court. The Cibadak District Court in Sukabumi, West Java, imposed the maximum sentence of death penalty to two citizens of Iran, Mostafa Moradalivand bin Moradali (32) and Seyed Hashem Moosavipour bin Sayed Abdollah (36), on Tuesday (January 6) for smuggling 40.1 kilograms of methamphetamine into Indonesia. Furthermore, the BNN hopes that the execution of the six narcotics convicts on death row on Sunday will prove to have a deterrent effect. "We hope their execution will deter those who have not been caught yet as well as those who control or distribute narcotic drugs," BNN spokesman Dwiyanto remarked here on Friday. He noted that he hoped dealers who have yet to be caught will reconsider their actions for fear of execution. Hopefully, the executions of these six convicts will have the desired effect on them and will reduce the distribution of drugs in the country. Moreover, Dwiyanto observed that the number of narcotics transactions in Indonesia has been the largest in the region of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). "Based on the results of the BNN's meetings with agencies and ministers of ASEAN member countries concerned with narcotics, 40 percent of (drug) transactions happened in Indonesia," he revealed. He added that narcotics transactions across the ASEAN region have been worth some Rp110 trillion, of which Rp48 trillion worth of transactions happened in Indonesia, making the country the highest ranked in such deals. This is why President Joko Widodo recently declared that Indonesia was in state of emergency with regard to drug abuse.