Serge Atlaoui with his Indonesian lawyer, Nancy Yuliana, during a hearing, in Tangerang, near Jakarta, in April 2015. ROMEO GACAD / AFP The official request for transfer of Serge Atlaoui, a Frenchman sentenced to death in Indonesia in 2007 for drug trafficking, was transmitted to the country’s authorities. “On December 19, we received an official letter requesting the transfer of Serge Atlaoui. It was sent on behalf of the French Minister of Justice,” Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Minister of Legal Affairs and Human Rights in Indonesia, declared to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday, December 28. Contacted by AFP, the French embassy in Indonesia did not wish to comment on this announcement. Serge Atlaoui, aged 61, was arrested in 2005 in a factory where drugs had been discovered, in the suburbs of Jakarta, with the authorities accusing him of being a “chemist”. The artisan welder from Metz and father of four children has always denied being a drug trafficker, claiming that he had only installed industrial machines in what he believed to be a drug factory. acrylic. Discussions “at the beginning of January” The affair caused a stir in Indonesia, where anti-drug legislation is one of the most severe in the world. Initially sentenced to life in prison, he saw the Supreme Court increase the sentence, condemning him to death on appeal. He was due to be executed alongside eight others in 2015, but was granted a temporary reprieve after Paris stepped up pressure, with Indonesian authorities agreeing to let a pending appeal take its course. Reread our 2015 archive | Article reserved for our subscribers The appeal of Frenchman Serge Atlaoui rejected by the Indonesian courts Read later “As we are in the end-of-year holiday period, we will discuss the content of the letter at the beginning of January”, said added Mr. Yusril. A “more detailed” discussion will be led by officials from the ministry. Likewise, the French Ministry of Justice could also involve staff from the French embassy in Jakarta, according to Mr. Yusril. The latter said, at the end of November, that France had transmitted a first request to Indonesia. The French Ministry of Justice then requested Jakarta to obtain a series of documents in order to prepare the official transfer request, according to a source close to the case. Read also | Indonesia: France has requested the repatriation of Serge Atlaoui, sentenced to death Read later Contacted by AFP, Serge Atlaoui’s French lawyer, Richard Sédillot, declared: “The idea that his sentence could today be commuted, and that its transfer can then be ordered, constitutes considerable hope. » Five Australians repatriated to their country in mid-December Indonesia currently has at least 530 convicts on death row, according to the rights association Kontras, citing official data. Among them, more than 90 foreigners, including two women, according to the Ministry of Immigration and Correctional Services. Le Monde Mémorable Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Discover A 39-year-old Filipina, Mary Jane Veloso, arrested in 2010 and also sentenced to death for drug trafficking , was repatriated to the Philippines in mid-December, after an agreement between the two countries. Furthermore, five Australian members of the “Bali Nine”, arrested on the tourist island in 2005 for drug trafficking and sentenced to heavy prison sentences, were repatriated to their country on December 15. Read Article reserved for our subscribers In Indonesia, the case of Serge Atlaoui examined by administrative justice Read later Another Frenchman, Félix Dorfin, arrested on the tourist island of Lombok, had been sentenced, beyond requisitions, to death sentence in 2019 also for drug trafficking which he always denied. The sentence was later commuted to nineteen years in prison, which he is currently serving. According to the association Together Against the Death Penalty, in addition to Serge Atlaoui, at least four French people are currently sentenced to death around the world: two men in Morocco and one in China as well as a woman in Algeria. The last capital executions in Indonesia date back to 2016: an Indonesian and three Nigerians, convicted of drug trafficking, were shot. Le Monde with AFP Reuse this content
Source link