Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, sentenced to death in Indonesia and imprisoned for 20 years, could be repatriated to France

Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, sentenced to death in Indonesia after being arrested in 2005, has been waiting on death row for almost ten years, but he could be repatriated to France, we learned this Friday, November 29. “The French Embassy delivered a letter from the French Minister of Justice to the Indonesian Minister of Justice, dated November 4, containing a request for the transfer of the French prisoner named Serge Atlaoui,” said Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesian Minister of Justice. responsible for Legal Affairs and Human Rights.

Serge Atlaoui, aged 60, 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 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 a drug factory. ‘acrylic.

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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, sentencing him to the death penalty 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.

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.

Discussions between three countries

This Thursday, November 28, Mr. Yusril indicated that Indonesia was in discussions with the Philippines, Australia and France with a view to repatriating several prisoners. He said he hoped that these transfers could be made by “the end of December”. Among them is Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina 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. Concerning five Australians, members of the “Bali Nine”, arrested in 2005 and sentenced to long prison terms for drug trafficking, Mr. Yusril indicated that the subject would be discussed next week during a visit to Jakarta by the minister Australian Interior, Tony Burke.

Indonesia currently has 530 convicts on death row, including 88 foreigners, rights group Kontras said recently, citing official data.

The previous Michaël Blanc

The last executions in Indonesia date back to 2016: an Indonesian and three Nigerians convicted of drug trafficking were shot by a firing squad. Another Frenchman, Félix Dorfin, arrested on the tourist island of Lombok, was sentenced, beyond requisitions, to the death penalty in 2019 also for drug trafficking which he has always denied. The sentence was later commuted to 19 years in prison, which he is currently serving.

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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 obtained parole and was able to return to France free in 2018.