Widodo orders officers to shoot drug traffickers

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has instructed law enforcement officers to shoot drug traffickers to deal with a narcotics emergency facing the country. “Be firm, especially to foreign drug dealers who enter the country and resist arrest. Shoot them because we indeed are in a narcotics emergency position now,” Widodo said in a speech delivered at an event held by one of Indonesia’s political parties late on Friday. His remarks have drawn comparison to that of Philippine’s President Rodrigo Duterte, who launched a brutal anti-drug crackdown about a year ago that saw many alleged drug dealers killed. The bloody campaign in the Phillipines has drawn condemnation from the international community. Indonesia also has tough laws against drugs. Widodo has previously been criticised for ordering executions against convicted drug traffickers who were given a death penalty by the court. — Reuters