Serge Atlaoui, Frenchman on death row in Indonesia since 2007. Paris is taking steps to obtain his transfer, in a tense diplomatic context. Return to a thorny issue which involves the sovereignty of States and the fate of a man.
It is a complex and sensitive issue which has occupied French diplomacy for many years. Serge Atlaoui, a French national, has been on death row in Indonesia since 2007, sentenced to death for drug trafficking. But Paris never gave up hope of obtaining his return to the country. And has just reached a new stage in this long fight.
According to a source close to the matter, France in fact sent an official request for “transfer” to the Indonesian authorities at the end of December. A letter that comes directly from the French Ministry of Justice. Jakarta has acknowledged receipt of this request and has undertaken to study it. But there will still be a long way to go before a possible positive outcome.
A Frenchman trapped in Indonesia
The story of Serge Atlaoui begins in 2005. This artisan welder from Metz was then arrested in a factory in the suburbs of Jakarta. The Indonesian authorities discovered a clandestine ecstasy production laboratory there. Serge Atlaoui claims to have simply come to install machines, thinking he was dealing with a legal factory. But local justice does not agree.
During his trial, the now 61-year-old Frenchman is described as a key element in trafficking, playing the role of “chemist”. A qualification that he strongly contests. Initially sentenced to life imprisonment, he saw his sentence increased on appeal. In 2007, the Indonesian Supreme Court finally sentenced him to the death penalty.
Indonesia, one of the toughest drug laws in the world
The verdict comes as a shock, especially since Indonesia is known for its zero-tolerance policy towards drug trafficking. The Southeast Asian country applies one of the the most repressive anti-drug laws on the planet. Currently, at least 530 convicts are on death row, including around a hundred foreigners. Mostly for drug-related cases.
Faced with this sentence, mobilization is organized in France to try to save Serge Atlaoui. His family, his loved ones, multiply the initiatives. A support committee was created. Petitions, demonstrations, speeches in the media: everything is good to alert public opinion and put pressure on the French and Indonesian governments.
2015: Serge Atlaoui narrowly escapes execution
The fight reached its climax in April 2015. Serge Atlaoui was then part of a group of nine death row inmates who were to be executed on the island of Nusa Kambangan, nicknamed “the Indonesian Alcatraz”. At the last moment, the Frenchman was removed from the list. Paris managed to convince Jakarta to suspend the application of the sentence, while a last resort is considered.
But it's only a short-term respite. A few months later, this appeal was rejected. Since then, Serge Atlaoui has lived with a sword of Damocles hanging over his head. At any time, the Indonesian authorities can decide to carry out his execution. An untenable situation for those close to him, who continue to warn of the urgent need to act.
First signs of opening on the Indonesian side
The transfer request submitted by France therefore constitutes new hope in this long fight. Especially since Jakarta has shown signs of opening in recent months. In mid-December, Indonesia agreed to return to the Philippines a national sentenced to death for drug trafficking in 2010. A significant gesture.
Similarly, in early December, an Indonesian court commuted the death sentence of a Frenchman in 19 years in prison. Félix Dorfin was arrested in 2018 at Lombok airport with several kilos of drugs in his luggage. Here again, he always proclaimed his innocence, claiming to have been framed.
So many signals which suggest that the Indonesian position is perhaps evolving on these sensitive issues. But caution remains in order on the French side. Because if Jakarta were to accept Serge Atlaoui's transfer request, it would create a major precedent. And there are many countries that could step into the breach.
A file with high diplomatic risks
France knows it, it is playing a delicate role. Too much pressure on the Indonesian authorities could prove counterproductive. Paris must therefore carefully advance its pawns on this diplomatic chessboard. Especially since other sensitive issues are at stake between the two countries, particularly on the economic and strategic level.
But it is difficult for the French government to remain inactive in the face of the fate of a citizen. Especially since the abolition of the death penalty in France in 1981. Working for the repatriation of Serge Atlaoui is therefore a priority, hammered home by all the successive tenants of the Quai d'Orsay. Until, perhaps, winning the case?
One thing is certain: the fight is still far from won. The upcoming discussions with Jakarta take a long time. The time for diplomacy is not that of emergency in which those close to Serge Atlaoui live. But they want to believe that their unfailing mobilization for 15 years will eventually pay off. And that one day, the one they have never stopped supporting will once again cross the door of his prison. As a free man.
