Indonesia, France to sign deal to transfer Frenchman on death row

by Jack MOORE / Eric BERNAUDEAU

Indonesia and France will sign an agreement Friday for the transfer of a Frenchman who has languished on death row since 2007 for alleged drug offenses, an Indonesian minister and sources close to the talks told AFP.

Indonesia has in recent weeks 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.

Indonesian officials have called a press conference with their French counterparts to announce the transfer agreement for Serge Atlaoui, a 61-year-old Frenchman arrested in 2005 at a drugs factory outside capital Jakarta, at 3:00 pm local time (0800 GMT) Friday.

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"We will sign the arrangement tomorrow at 3 pm. The Minister of Justice of France already confirmed today," senior law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra told AFP late Thursday.

The ministry said in an invite to the media that a press conference would be held after a "closed-door signing of the practical arrangement" for Atlaoui's transfer.

The signing of the agreement, initially scheduled for Wednesday, was first postponed to Thursday for scheduling reasons and then again to Friday, according to a source close to the discussions.

"The agreement is due to be signed early Friday afternoon in Jakarta by Mr Yusril and Gerald Darmanin, the French Justice Minister, remotely from Paris, by videoconference," the source said.

Atlaoui could be transferred in late January or early February as the final details for his repatriation still needed to be agreed, the source added.

He is currently suffering from an illness in a Jakarta prison and receives weekly treatment at a hospital, raising the stakes of his transfer.

Paris submitted an official request for his transfer last month, and Atlaoui's fate upon his return to France could be announced on Friday.

- Maintained innocence -

Father-of-four Atlaoui has maintained his innocence since his imprisonment, 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.

Atlaoui was held on the island of Nusakambangan in Central Java, known as Indonesia's "Alcatraz", following the death sentence, but he was transferred to the city of Tangerang, west of Jakarta, in 2015 ahead of his appeal.

That year, he was due to be executed alongside eight other drug offenders who were killed but won a temporary reprieve after Paris stepped up pressure, with Indonesian authorities agreeing to let an outstanding appeal run its course.

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.

According to Indonesia's Immigration and Corrections Ministry, more than 90 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges, as of early November.

Last month, Filipina inmate Mary Jane Veloso tearfully reunited with her family after nearly 15 years on Indonesia's death row.

Despite ongoing negotiations for Atlaoui's transfer, the Indonesian government recently signaled that it will resume executions -- on hiatus since 2016 -- of drug convicts on death row.