One of Indonesia’s most senior ministers has denied there will be a formal moratorium on executions in Indonesia.
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He said that economic growth is a major focus of what the current government wants to achieve.
He was answering questions after media reports suggested the country was calling a halt to executions.
Indonesia is putting off executions due to the slowdown in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, the chief security minister says, without explaining the connection.
Asked if it could be described as a moratorium, Mr Panjaitan said categorically: “Don’t, it is different”.
Olalia told Bulatlat.com that this is a validation of earlier pronouncements of Indonesian Attorney General Prasetya that executions are not priority.
And at the time Mr Prasetyo said the 2016 budget, which was agreed on by the Parliament on October 30, included the money to carry out a further 14 executions.
The Indonesian government has announced a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty in order to focus on improving a sputtering economy.
Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of drug traffickers Bali Nine, were among several foreigners who were executed in April.
The softening economy, the worldwide backlash and a desire to attract foreign investment have dampened talk of a further round of executions in the near future, although many prisoners remain on death row.
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In April, the pair avoided the firing squad after the prosecutor postponed their execution pending ongoing legal proceedings.
