According to Jakarta, France has officially asked Indonesia to repatriate Serge Atlaoui, a 60-year-old Frenchman sentenced to death in 2007 for drug trafficking that he has always denied, in a country where anti-drug legislation is one of the most severe in the world. the world.
“The French embassy delivered a letter from the French Minister of Justice to the Indonesian Minister of Justice, dated November 4, which contained a request for the transfer of the French prisoner named Serge Atlaoui,” Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesian minister in charge of Legal Affairs and Human Rights.
Serge Atlaoui, 60, was arrested in 2005 at a factory where drugs were discovered on the outskirts of Jakarta, and authorities accused him of being a “chemist.” Contacted, the French embassy in Indonesia did not immediately react.
Sentenced to death penalty on appeal
The artisanal welder from Metz and father of four has always denied being a drug trafficker, stating that he had only installed industrial machines in what he believed to be a drug factory.
The case caused a stir in Indonesia, where anti-drug laws are among the strictest in the world. Initially sentenced to life imprisonment, the Supreme Court increased the sentence and sentenced him to the death penalty on appeal.
He was due to be executed along with eight other convicts in 2015, but was granted a temporary reprieve after Paris increased pressure and Indonesian authorities agreed to let a pending appeal run its course.
Serge Atlaoui was detained for a long time on the island of Nusakambangan, in the center of the island of Java, nicknamed the Indonesian “Alcatraz”. He was then transferred to Tangerang, a city west of Jakarta, in 2015.
Debates with three countries
On Thursday, Yusril Ihza Mahendra indicated that Indonesia was in talks with the Philippines, Australia and France with a view to repatriating several prisoners. He said he hoped these transfers could take place “by the end of December.”
Among them is Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino sentenced to death after being arrested in Indonesia in 2010 with a suitcase containing 2.6 kilos of heroin. Last week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that an agreement had been reached between the two countries for Ms. Veloso’s return to Manila.
Regarding five Australians, members of the “Bali Nine”, arrested in 2005 and sentenced to long prison terms for drug trafficking, Yusril Ihza Mahendra indicated that the issue will be debated next week during a visit to Jakarta by the Minister of the Interior. from Australia, Tony Burke. .
Indonesia currently has 530 death row inmates, including 88 foreigners, human rights group Kontras recently said, citing official data. The last executions in Indonesia date back to 2016: a firing squad shot an Indonesian and three Nigerians convicted of drug trafficking.
Another Frenchman, Félix Dorfin, detained on the tourist island of Lombok, was sentenced, beyond the searches, to the death penalty in 2019 also for drug trafficking, something he has always denied. The sentence was later commuted to 19 years in prison, which he is currently serving.
Michaël Blanc, a Frenchman from Bonneville (Haute Savoie), was sentenced to life in prison after being arrested on the island of Bali in 1999 for drug trafficking. His sentence was then reduced to 20 years in prison before he was granted parole and able to return free to France in 2018.
Source: BFM TV
