He has been there for almost 10 years, but his situation could change. Paris has sent Indonesia an official request for the “transfer” of Serge Atlaoui, a Frenchman sentenced to death in Indonesia in 2007 for drug trafficking, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesian Minister in charge of Legal Affairs and of Human Rights, this Saturday.
“We received an official letter (…) on December 19. The letter was sent on behalf of the French Minister of Justice,” he said. “As it is the end of the year, we will discuss the contents of the letter in early January,” added Yusril Ihza Mahendra.
Serge Atlaoui, aged 61, was arrested in 2005 at a factory where drugs were discovered outside Jakarta, with authorities accusing him of being a “chemist”. The artisan welder from Metz (north-east) and father of four children, has always denied being a drug trafficker, claiming that he had only installed industrial machines in what he believed to be an acrylic factory.
The affair caused a stir in Indonesia where anti-drug laws are one of the strictest in the world. Initially sentenced to life in prison, he saw the Supreme Court increase the sentence, condemning him to death on appeal.
He was due to be executed alongside eight other convicts in 2015, but was granted a temporary reprieve after Paris stepped up pressure, with Indonesian authorities agreeing to let a pending appeal take its course.
At the end of November, the Indonesian Minister in charge of Legal Affairs and Human Rights indicated that France had sent a first request to Indonesia. The French Ministry of Justice then asked Jakarta for a series of documents in order to prepare the official transfer request, according to a source close to the case.
A 39-year-old Filipina, Mary Jane Veloso, arrested in 2010 and also sentenced to the death penalty for drug trafficking, was repatriated to her country of origin in mid-December, after an agreement between the two countries.
At least 530 people in total are on death row in Indonesia, most of them for drug-related cases, according to data from rights group KontraS based on official figures.
