Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said he will personally ask the police to shoot drug traffickers summarily if the law allowed it.
His remarks came as the country is preparing to execute convicts on death row for drug offences.
“Hit them, clobber them, if the law allowed, shoot them.
“Fortunately the law doesn’t allow it, otherwise, I would personally order the National Police chief and the National Narcotics Agency chief to do it,’’ Joko said.
Joko said drugs had penetrated all levels of society and about 50 Indonesian youths died every day because of drug abuse.
“Once again, I reaffirm that it is time for a war on drugs,’’ he said.
Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo said that his office planned to execute 16 drug convicts on death row after the Eid-al-Fitr Muslim holiday, which falls on July 6.
In 2015, Indonesia executed 14 convicts, all but two of them foreigners, in a move that drew international condemnation.
According to the Justice Ministry, no fewer than 121 people are currently on death row in Indonesia, including 35 foreigners, mostly convicted of drug-related crimes.
They include Mary Jane Veloso from the Philippines, Lindsay Sandiford from Britain and Frenchman Serge Atlaoui.
Under Indonesian law, each convict would face a firing squad of 10 gunmen.
Joko, who took office in 2014, has taken a tough stance against drug trafficking, saying that the country is facing a drug emergency.
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