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Indonesia, France likely to sign agreement over repatriation of death row convict
France had previously requested the transfer of Serge Atlaoui, who has been jailed in Indonesia since 2005, Coordinating Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services Yusril Ihza Mahendra told reporters.
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Coordinating Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra (right) and France's Ambassador to Indonesia, East Timor, and ASEAN Fabien Penone shake hands during a press conference held regarding France asking Indonesia to transfer French death row convict Serge Atlaoui, who was convicted on drug charges since 2005, in Jakarta on Dec. 20, 2024. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
I
ndonesia is likely to sign an agreement with France before the end of this month over the repatriation of a Frenchman who is on death row on charges of drug offences, a senior minister said on Tuesday.
France had previously requested the transfer of Serge Atlaoui, who has been jailed in Indonesia since 2005, Coordinating Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services Yusril Ihza Mahendra told reporters.
Indonesia and France are currently negotiating legal requirements and technical procedures over the repatriation. The negotiation is expected to be settled before the end of January, Yusril said.
"The negotiation is almost final ... We are likely to approve the request of the French government to return him to France," Yusril said.
Atlaoui was sentenced to death for being a chemist in an ecstasy factory in Jakarta that was capable of producing 100 kilograms of the illegal pills every week. He has maintained his innocence, saying he thought he was working in an acrylics factory.
One of the government's considerations to allow the repatriation was because Atlaoui had cancer, the minister said.
In 2015, Atlaoui was about to be executed with seven other foreign prisoners but was granted a last-minute reprieve.
The court then rejected his appeal against the death sentence, leaving him with no other legal options.
Indonesian authorities have said that France has called for the "immediate return" of a French inmate on death row in Indonesia, citing his "deteriorating health".
French diplomats have acknowledged since late last year that talks were underway for the transfer of Serge Atlaoui, a 61-year-old Frenchman arrested in 2005 at a drugs factory outside the capital Jakarta.
"Given Serge Atlaoui's deteriorating health, humanitarian consideration for his immediate return would be appreciated," said the number-two official at the French Embassy in Indonesia, Laurent Legodec, according to a statement from Indonesia's law and human rights ministry.
Jakarta had repatriated Mary Jane Veloso, a Philippine woman who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking in December last year, days after the five remaining members of the "Bali Nine" drug ring were sent back to Australia.
