JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Indonesian authorities have escorted ailing French national Serge Atlaoui, who has been on death row for nearly two decades, to Jakarta airport, marking the beginning of his return to France under a prisoner transfer agreement between the two nations.
Atlaoui, aged 61 and reportedly suffering from cancer, had spent 19 years in an Indonesian prison for drug-related offenses. His execution, originally scheduled for 2015, was postponed after the French government intensified diplomatic pressure, given that Atlaoui still had an outstanding court appeal. In May 2015, Indonesia executed eight other convicts, but Atlaoui received a last-minute stay of execution.
Despite his subsequent appeal being denied by an Administrative Court in Jakarta, Atlaoui's plea for repatriation gained traction. In December 2022, he reached out to the Indonesian government, expressing his desire to serve the remainder of his sentence in France. This prompted a response from Paris, leading to a transfer agreement signed remotely on January 24 by Indonesia’s senior minister of law, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, and France's Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin.
Serge Atlaoui was apprehended in 2005 for his alleged roles in a factory producing MDMA, commonly referred to as ecstasy, located on the outskirts of Jakarta. His legal team contends that Atlaoui was merely a welder at the facility and was unaware of the illegal operations occurring there. He has consistently maintained his innocence, asserting that he thought he was working in an acrylics plant. Initially sentenced to life imprisonment, his sentence was later upgraded to death following a Supreme Court appeal in 2007.
On Tuesday afternoon, Atlaoui was transferred from Salemba Prison in Jakarta to the airport in a vehicle, preparing to board a commercial flight to Paris later that day. His anticipated arrival in France is reported for Wednesday morning. Notably, Atlaoui did not make any remarks to the media gathered outside the prison.
Indonesia currently has approximately 530 individuals on death row, with a significant majority convicted of drug-related crimes, including nearly 100 foreigners. The Ministry of Immigration and Corrections data underlines the severity of the death penalty for drug offenses in the country. The last executions in Indonesia took place in July 2016, involving an Indonesian citizen and three foreign nationals.
In December, Indonesia also repatriated Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina woman who had been on death row and narrowly escaped execution in 2015 following persistent requests from the Philippines. Similarly, in December, five Australians involved in heroin trafficking were returned to Australia after close to 20 years in Indonesian prisons, following a bilateral arrangement between the two governments.
Following these recent repatriations of foreign convicts, Jakarta is considering new legislation on prisoner amnesty and transfers aimed at addressing the chronic overcrowding in Indonesian prisons.
Niniek Karmini, The Associated Press
