An Indonesian minister told AFP on Saturday ( Dec. 28 ) that France has officially requested the transfer of a French death row inmate who has spent nearly 20 years in jail.
A Filipina mother on death row and the last five people of the so-called” Bali Nine” drug circle are among Indonesia’s new release of a few well-known prisoners.
European officials have acknowledged that negotiations were raging for the release of Serge Atlaoui, a 61-year-old Frenchman detained in 2005 at a drug manufacturer outside the investment Jakarta.
The Indonesian state has today confirmed that the exchange request was received. A decision will be made in early January.
Older law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra informed AFP that” we have received a formal email requesting the transport of Serge Atlaoui.”
AFP’s request for comment was declined by the European ambassador in Jakarta.
Atlaoui’s attorney, Richard Sedillot, said that France’s action brought “immense hope”.
He told AFP,” It would be the pinnacle of a lengthy battle that has frequently been secret but that has consistently been waged over the years.”
” It’s been diligent work and we’re happy with an output which could be favourable”, added Sedillot.
” A LONG FIGHT”
Father-of-four Atlaoui has maintained his innocence, claiming that he was installing technology in what he thought was an acrylic grow.
Initial sentences for him included life in prison, but the Supreme Court changed that to death in elegance in 2007.
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, north of Jakarta, in 2015 back of his appeal.
He was scheduled to be put to death alongside eight other drug offenders in the same year, but after Paris increased the pressure, Indonesian authorities agreed to let an ongoing charm go.
In the charm, Atlaoui’s lawyers argued that then-president Joko Widodo did not properly regard his situation as he rejected Atlaoui’s plea for clemency- usually a death row convict’s next chance to avoid the firing squad.
However, the court upheld its earlier ruling that the jury lacked the authority to discover a mercy plea challenge.
The standard demand, according to Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), is the “penultimate move in a long battle” for those at the Paris-based organization who have campaigned for times to stop Atlaoui’s murder.
” We are then waiting for this shift to become a reality”, ECPM producer Raphael Chenuil-Hazan told AFP.
After spending nearly 15 years on Indonesia’s death string, Filipina criminal Mary Jane Veloso experienced tearful reunion with her family earlier this month. She was transferred to a children’s prison in Manila where she awaits a hoped-for pardon for her medicines judgment.
In addition to executing immigrants in the past, Indonesia has one of the strictest drug laws in the world.
At least 530 people were on death row in the Southeast Asian nation, mainly for drug-related acts, according to statistics from rights team KontraS, citing official statistics.
According to Indonesia’s Immigration and Corrections Ministry, more than 90 immigrants were on death row, all on medication costs, as of early November.
The Indonesian authorities recently announced that it will continue the killings of drug prisoners on dying row after a break since 2016.