France officially requested Indonesia to transfer a French death row inmate imprisoned on drugs charges since 2005, a senior Indonesian minister said on Saturday.
“We have received a formal letter requesting the transfer of Serge Atlaoui on 19 December 2024. The letter was sent on behalf of the French minister of justice,” senior Indonesian law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra told Frenc press agency Agence France-Presse.
He added that the request would be discussed in “early January” after the holidays.
Serge Atlaoui, a 61-year-old welder, was arrested in 2005 in a drugs factory outside Jakarta where authorities accused him of being a “chemist”.
In recent weeks, the Indonesian government has agreed to transfer a series of high-profile foreign detainees on death row, including Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina domestic helper, and the last five members of the so-called “Bali Nine” drug ring, raising hopes for others who remain in jail.
Reports began to emerge last month that France had requested the repatriation of Atlaoui, who was due to be executed alongside eight other drug offenders in 2015 but won a temporary reprieve after Paris stepped up pressure. Indonesian authorities agreed to let an outstanding appeal run its course.
The father of four has maintained his innocence, claiming that he was installing machinery in what he thought was an acrylics plant.
He was initially sentenced to life in prison, but the supreme court in 2007 increased the sentence to death on appeal.
Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drug laws, including the death penalty for traffickers, and has executed foreigners in the past.
Despite ongoing negotiations for prisoner transfers, the Indonesian government recently signalled that it will resume executions, on hold since 2016, of drug convicts on death row.
The French embassy in Jakarta declined AFP’s request for comment.
(With newswires)
