JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian authorities are preparing to return Serge Atlaoui, a French national who has been on death row for nearly two decades, under a recent agreement between Indonesia and France. Atlaoui, now 61 and reportedly suffering from cancer, was granted a last-minute reprieve from execution by a 13-member firing squad in 2015 after France intensified diplomatic pressure on Indonesia. His execution was put on hold due to an outstanding court appeal.
Atlaoui has spent almost 20 years in an Indonesian prison since his arrest in 2005 for allegedly being involved in a factory manufacturing the psychoactive drug MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, located on the outskirts of Jakarta. His legal team asserts that Atlaoui had been employed as a welder at the facility and was unaware of the chemical processes involved, claiming he believed he was working in an acrylics plant.
Initially sentenced to life imprisonment, Atlaoui's sentence was escalated to death following an appeal in 2007. After being granted a stay of execution in 2015, he made a final plea to the Indonesian government in December 2022, requesting to serve the remainder of his sentence in France. Subsequently, the French government responded positively, leading to the signing of a transfer agreement on January 24, 2023, between Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesia's senior minister of law, and Gérald Darmanin, the French Minister of Justice.
On May 2015, despite the execution of eight other individuals, Atlaoui's life was spared due to his ongoing legal situation. Following his permanent stay of execution, the Administrative Court in Jakarta denied his last appeal in June 2015. Atlaoui's case highlights the unique legal and diplomatic complexities surrounding drug offenses in Indonesia, where over 530 people are on death row, primarily for drug-related crimes, including nearly 100 foreigners, as reported by the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections.
Indonesia has a controversial history concerning executions and has previously carried out death sentences for drug trafficking offenses. The country's last executions took place in July 2016, applying to an Indonesian citizen as well as three foreign nationals. As part of its international relations initiatives, Indonesia returned Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina woman on death row, in December 2022 under similar diplomatic arrangements. Additionally, five Australian nationals, who had spent nearly two decades in Indonesian prisons for heroin trafficking, were also repatriated to Australia in the same month through an agreement between the two governments.
In light of recent repatriations of foreign convicts, Jakarta is contemplating new legislative measures concerning prisoner amnesty and transfers in an effort to alleviate the issue of overcrowded prisons in the country. The transfer of Serge Atlaoui back to France marks a significant development in Indonesia's approach to foreign prisoners and parallels the ongoing discussions about reforming the justice system related to drug offenses and capital punishment.
