TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - International relations expert Hikmahanto Juwana said the Indonesian government should not hesitate to execute death-row inmates. He added outside pressures such as from Australia, Brazil and the U.N. could be ignored.
“This issue is just a commodity in those two countries,” said Hikmahanto on Monday.
Furthermore, he said, Indonesia had just successfully held the Asian-African Conference commemoration, so the nation would become a laughing stock if its position in this issue was compromised.
"In Dasasila Bandung, non-intervention principle in Asian and African countries is still relevant,” said Hikmahanto.
He believed that relations with foreign countries would return to normal after the executions. “No foreign government dares to put mutual, beneficial relations at risk for defending its citizens who committed crimes,” said Hikmahanto, adding that there would be no significant consequences if Indonesia played down those pressures.
Hikmahanto also deplored a recent statement by U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. “The secretary-general should not be steered by interests of other countries,” he said. “Besides, where was the U.N. secretary-general when two Indonesians were executed in Saudi Arabia?”
INDRI MAULIDAR