A panel of judges consisting of Artidjo Alkostar, Surya Jaya and Suhadi stated in its verdict that Atlaoui had "been found guilty of distributing, transferring, brokering drug transactions with evidence include pure heroin".

After the court rejected the review, Atlaoui'€™s execution and that of other foreigners '€” including citizens of Australia, Brazil, the Philippines, Ghana and Nigeria '€” could occur very soon.

Attorney General M. Prasetyo said prosecutors had not yet set a date for the executions, but indicated that they would be carried out after the Asian-African Conference and before the holy month of Ramadhan, which will start in mid June.

French Ambassador Corinne Breuze said last week that France, which abolished the death penalty in 1981, was opposed to capital punishment in all circumstances.

"If the execution is carried out, it will not be without consequence for our bilateral relationship," Breuze said.

Atlaoui was arrested near Jakarta in 2005 at a secret laboratory producing ecstasy and sentenced to death two years later.

Imprisoned in Indonesia for a decade, the father-of-four has always denied the charges, saying he was installing industrial machinery in what he thought was an acrylics factory. (ren)(++++)

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