Jokowi: Death penalty for graft convicts if the public wants it
JAKARTA: Indonesia President Joko Widodo today said death penalty could be handed down to graft convicts if the people want it.
Joko, also known as Jokowi, said that existing law in the country did not stipulate death sentence for graft suspects, except for those committing corruption in connection with national disaster mitigation.
“If it’s the people’s will to include [capital punishment] in the Criminal Code [or] Corruption Law, it can be put in.
“It is possible for the government to initiate a revision of the 2001 Corruption Law if the people want it,” he said.
Jokowi was commemorating International Anticorruption Day by attending a performance at the SMK 57 public vocational school in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta today.
After the performance, an SMK 57 student named Harley Hermansyah asked the President about capital punishment for those convicted on graft.
Article 2 Paragraph 1 of the 2001 Corruption Law stipulates that corruption and self-enrichment offenses that cause state losses constitute crimes that are punishable by death if they occur during a national disasters.
In addition to natural disaster, the 2001 Corruption Law allows for the death penalty to be imposed in “certain situations”, namely if the act of corruption is committed when the country is in danger, including during economic or monetary crises.
Despite a global trend pointing toward the abolition of the death penalty, Indonesia is among dozens of countries across the globe that have retained capital punishment, mainly for drug offenses, murder and terrorism.
Under Jokowi’s administration, Indonesia has executed 18 death row inmates — including foreign nationals — convicted of drug-related offenses in three batches since 2015, sparking international outcry and calls from human rights activists for the country to scrap the death penalty.
Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, who also attended the event, later confirmed that the death penalty could already be used against graft convicts in certain situations.
The Jakarta Post
