Indonesia Temporarily Halts Death Row Executions As It Focuses On Economy

Indonesia will halt all impending executions as the nation attempts to address its slumping economy, the BBC reports.

The moratorium on death row executions was announced by Indonesia’s top security minister, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan.

He did not expand on the link between executions and the economy.

The executions of Australian drug traffickers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in April led to a weakened relationship between the two nations, though Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Indonesia just last week to talk about trade.

Indonesia has executed 14 people in 2015 alone, including citizens from Brazil, the Netherlands and Nigeria. A British woman is also awaiting execution on death row.

When the moratorium will end, and the fate of those who have already been sentenced to death, is unknown.

You can read one of our student contributor’s thoughts on the deaths of Chan and Sukumaran, as well as the death penalty in general, here.