JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia and France signed an agreement on Friday on the repatriation of a Frenchman on death row for drug offences, a senior Indonesian minister said.
Serge Atlaoui, who has been in jail in Indonesia since 2005, is scheduled to return to France on Feb. 4, the senior minister for law and human rights affairs, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, told a press conference.
Atlaoui was sentenced to death for being a chemist in an ecstasy factory in the capital Jakarta that was capable of producing 100 kg (220.46 lb) of the illegal pills every week.
He 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. An Indonesian court then rejected his appeal against the death sentence, leaving him with no other legal options.
Yusril said Indonesia agreed to repatriate Atlaoui for “humanitarian” reasons as the Frenchman was suffering from cancer.
“I think this has been a lengthy process,” he said after signing the agreement along with French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin via video teleconference.
Yusril said France would decide on Atlaoui’s legal status once he returns home and that based on French law, the maximum punishment for a similar case is 30 years in jail.
France thanked Indonesia for the deal and said the two countries were developing further “legal cooperation,” the French ambassador to Jakarta, Fabien Penone, told the same press conference.
France has agreed to several terms proposed by Indonesia, Yusril previously said, including respecting the Indonesian court ruling over Atlaoui.
(Reporting by Yuddy Cahya Budiman and Ananda Teresia; Editing by Martin Petty and Mark Heinrich)
