AA / Paris / Ümit Dönmez
France has officially requested Indonesia to transfer Serge Atlaoui, a 61-year-old Frenchman, sentenced to death in 2007 for drug trafficking.
Arrested in 2005 in Jakarta, he maintains his innocence, claiming to have been hired to install industrial machines in a factory that he believed to be legal.
Quoted by Le Monde, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesian minister responsible for legal affairs, confirmed receipt, on December 19, of a letter from the French Ministry of Justice. “We will examine its content at the beginning of January, after the holidays,” he said.
Initially sentenced to life in prison, Serge Atlaoui's sentence was increased on appeal. His execution planned for 2015 was suspended under diplomatic pressure from Paris. This affair aroused great emotion in France.
Le Monde reports that the recent repatriation of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina sentenced to death in Indonesia, as well as five Australians detained for drug trafficking, has opened a window of hope. Quoted by the daily, Serge Atlaoui's lawyer sees this as “an encouraging sign for a possible commutation of sentence”.
With at least four French people sentenced to death around the world, France once again finds itself leading complex negotiations. This request, if successful, could open the way to other similar initiatives, particularly for convicts in China and Morocco.
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