Indonesia announced that it had received an official request from France to transfer Serge Atlaoui, 61-year-old from Messin, sentenced to death since 2007 for drug trafficking. His lawyer Richard Sédillot evokes an “official request which arouses great hope”, and even envisages repatriation at the end of January on national territory.
The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection
Every day, our editorial team reserves the best regional news for you. A selection just for you, to stay in touch with your regions.
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the newsletter “Today’s essentials: our exclusive selection”. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our privacy policy
Hope revives among those close to Serge Atlaoui. Will the father of four finally be able to return to France to reunite with his family? According to his lawyer, Richard Sédillot, the signals are green. Indonesia has received an official request from France to release Messin detained since 2005, an Indonesian minister told AFP this Saturday, December 28. This letter dated December 19 was sent by the French Minister of Justice, explained Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesian Minister in charge of Legal Affairs and Human Rights to our colleagues.
“It is an official request which arouses great hope”, reacted Richard Sédillot, Serge Atlaoui's lawyer since his death sentence for drug trafficking in 2007. The lawyer specializing in international law is now waiting for this request to materialize, and hopes that the transfer can be organized quickly, as soon as end of January. This news has of course raised expectations among those close to the father of four children.
We are all filled with considerable hope today. Things are not yet definitively confirmed, but this is the first time that hope has been so justified.
Richard Sédillot, lawyer for Serge Atlaoui
For the first time, the inmate himself surprises himself by seeing a different future. “Jand think that c'East the first time he feels such hope, indicates his lawyer. For him, it would be a relief considerable.”
The artisan welder from Metz has always proclaimed his innocence. He was arrested in 2005 in the suburbs of Jakarta, in a factory where drugs were discovered. In this country where anti-drug legislation is one of the strictest in the world, Serge Atlaoui is accused of being a chemist. However, he always denied being a drug trafficker, claiming that he had only installed industrial machines in what he believed to be an acrylic factory.
This announcement comes shortly after the transfer of other foreign detainees from Indonesia. A 39-year-old Filipina arrested in 2010 and also sentenced to death for drug trafficking, was repatriated in mid-December, after an agreement between the two countries. Five Australians arrested in 2005 for drug trafficking and sentenced to long prison terms were repatriated to their country on December 15.
“A priori nothing allows us to consider that there should be a difference between the fate which would be reserved for Serge on the one hand and the fate that was reserved for condemned Australians on the other hand”, emphasized Me Sédillot. If this transfer takes place, the legal situation of Serge Atlaoui in such a scenario is not yet known. A call between the lawyer and the Ministry of Justice is planned for Monday to discuss the situation. Indonesian Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra, for his part, clarified that the contents of the letter would be discussed at the beginning of January.
