Indonesia and France on Friday signed an agreement for the repatriation of a Frenchman on death row since 2007 for alleged drug offences.
Serge Atlaoui, who was jailed in Indonesia in 2005, will return to France on 4 February, Law and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra announced.
Atlaoui, a 51-year-old father of four, was arrested near Jakarta in 2005 in a secret laboratory capable of producing 100kg of ecstasy per week. He was working there as a chemist.
He was sentenced to death two years later – the only one of the nine arrested to receive the death sentence.
Atlaoui has long maintained his innocence, saying he thought he was working in an acrylics factory.
In 2015, Atlaoui was about to be executed with seven other foreign prisoners but was granted a last-minute reprieve after Paris stepped up pressure. An Indonesian court then rejected his appeal against the death sentence, leaving him with no other legal options.
Yusril will sign the repatriation agreement with the French Minister of Justice Gerald Darmanin via video teleconference on Friday, said Yusril.
Atlaoui is suffering from an illness and receives weekly treatment at a hospital.
Paris submitted an official request for his transfer last month.
Indonesian court rejects French man's appeal against death sentence
Fate in France to be decided
France has agreed several terms proposed by Indonesia, Yusril said, including respecting the Indonesian court ruling over Atlaoui.
"After the transfer, all depends on the French government, whether they want to give him clemency or giving sentences according to the French law," he added.
Based on French law, the maximum punishment for a similar case is 30 years in jail.
In 2019, an Indonesian court commuted the death sentence for another Frenchman convicted of drug smuggling, to 19 years. The French foreign ministry had expressed its concern when he was convicted, reiterating France's opposition to the death penalty.
Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws and has executed foreigners in the past.
At least 530 people were on death row in the Southeast Asian nation, mostly for drug-related crimes, according to data from rights group KontraS, citing official figures.
Indonesia's Immigration and Corrections Ministry said more than 90 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges, as of early November.
In recent weeks it has released half a dozen high-profile detainees, including a Filipina mum on death row and the last five members of the so-called "Bali Nine" drug ring.
(with newswires)
