Indonesia’s moratorium on death penalty welcomed ‎

Activists and church leaders in Indonesia and the Philippines have welcomed news that Indonesia is putting off executions.  Indonesia's security minister, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, announced on Thursday that the government's ‎priority was to address the country's economic slowdown.‎  ‎"We haven't thought about executing a death penalty with the economic conditions like this," Panjaitan ‎told a media briefing in Jakarta.‎  Reacting to the news, Indonesian priest Father Benny Susetyo, general secretary of the Setara Institute for Democracy, said, "It's the right decision to focus more on economic development than the death penalty."  He said, "Drug lords need to get maximum punishment, such as a life sentence, impoverishment, and being put in isolated prisons."

The moratorium on death penalty effectively extends a temporary reprieve to 30-year-old Filipino woman Mary Jane Veloso, who faces execution for attempting to smuggle 2.6 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia. Her execution in April was postponed at the last minute, pending an investigation into her claim that she was the victim of human trafficking. 

Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga, chairman of the Philippine bishops' Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People hailed the decision as “a welcome relief,” and that Veloso’s innocence will be proved.  Veloso’s lawyer Edre Olalia said the news from Indonesia is "certainly welcome not only for Veloso but for all concerned."  "We hope in time that it leads to a permanent abolition [of the death penalty] as we have serious objections and questions about its effect and purpose in deterring crime," said Olalia, secretary-general of the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers.

Indonesia has executed 14 drug offenders this year, straining relations with Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands and Nigeria, which all had citizens among those shot by firing squad.  (Source: UCAN/AP)