A French man, Serge Atlaoui, who has been on death row in Indonesia since 2007 for alleged drug offenses, is anticipated to return to France in the coming weeks. An Indonesian minister announced that an agreement for his transfer would be signed on Friday. According to Yusril Ihza Mahendra, the senior minister for law and human rights, Atlaoui is expected to arrive back in France on February 5 or 6.
In recent weeks, Indonesia has released several high-profile detainees, including a Filipina mother on death row and the last five members of the Bali Nine drug ring. A press conference will be held by Indonesian officials alongside their French counterparts to announce the transfer agreement for Atlaoui, a 61-year-old welder who was arrested in 2005 at a drug factory near Jakarta.
Mahendra stated, “We will sign the arrangement tomorrow at 3 pm. The French justice minister has already confirmed today.” The ministry has invited media to a press conference following a “closed-door signing of the practical arrangement” for Atlaoui’s transfer. The signing, initially set for Wednesday, was postponed first to Thursday and then to Friday due to scheduling conflicts.
The agreement is expected to be signed early Friday afternoon in Jakarta by Yusril and Gérald Darmanin, the French justice minister, who will participate via videoconference from Paris. Atlaoui is currently ill in a Jakarta prison and receives weekly medical treatment, which adds urgency to his transfer.
France submitted an official request for Atlaoui’s transfer last month, and his situation upon returning to France may also be addressed on Friday. A father of four, Atlaoui has consistently denied the drug charges against him, asserting that he was merely installing machinery in what he believed was an acrylics plant.
Initially sentenced to life imprisonment, his sentence was increased to death by the supreme court in 2007 following an appeal. After receiving the death sentence, Atlaoui was held on Nusakambangan Island, known as Indonesia’s “Alcatraz,” but was moved to Tangerang, west of Jakarta, in 2015 as he awaited his appeal. That year, he was scheduled for execution alongside eight other drug offenders but received a temporary reprieve after France intensified diplomatic pressure, leading Indonesian authorities to allow his appeal to proceed.
Indonesia is known for its stringent drug laws and has executed foreign nationals in the past. According to rights group KontraS, at least 530 individuals are currently on death row in Indonesia, primarily for drug-related offenses. As of early November, more than 90 foreigners were on death row, all facing drug charges.
