BBC News
Getty ImagesA European national who has been imprisoned in Indonesia since 2007 for drug offenses has left the country as part of a deal reached between the two countries.
Serge Atlaoui, 61, was accused of being a” chemist” by Indonesian authorities and arrested in 2005 at a factory in Jakarta, where dozens of kilos ( pounds ) of drugs were found.
The father-of-four was granted humanitarian extradition on “humanitarian basis” because he has cancers and has been receiving regular treatment at a hospital. An agreement was reached between Indonesia and France on January 24th.
” It’s a miracle”, his wife Sabine Atlaoui told France’s RTL radio. ” He survived 19 years of prison. He survived an murder”.
The 61-year-old will be handed over to French officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, before boarding a corporate flight to Paris.
Upon returning, Atlaoui may be presented to prosecution” and most good detained while awaiting a selection”, Atlaoui’s attorney Richard Sedillot told AFP.
Atlaoui told his family that he does not want to travel to the aircraft, according to his family.
When he is free, she told RTL,” He wants to discover his home once more.” ” However, we do not know how long it may take”.
In France, the maximum sentence for a related crime is 30 years, Indonesia animal rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra told Reuters.
It will be up to Paris to offer” clemency, asylum or a diminished word”, he said.
Getty ImagesAtlaoui, a machinist from Metz in north-eastern France, has often denied being a drug kingpin.
He claimed to be installing equipment in an plastic shop, but told AFP in 2015 he” thought there was something suspicious”.
The conviction was changed to death on charm by the Indonesian high court after previously serving life in prison.
His execution was scheduled for 2015, but paused thanks to pressure from the French government.