Frenchman Serge Atlaoui escorted by Indonesian police following a court hearing in Jakarta where his death sentence is upheld. Photo: AFP
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that the sentencing to death of a Frenchman in Indonesia is the result of “serious dysfunctions” in the country’s legal system.
In a letter to his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi on “particularly shocking” failings, Fabius said Serge Atlaoui, 51, had been the victim of a hasty trial and was sentenced “in a ruling containing erroneous statements.”
This follows statements made by French President Francois Hollande yesterday warning Indonesia that the execution of Atlaoui would damage ties between the two nations.
Foreign Minister Fabius also summoned the Indonesian ambassador in Paris a day after Serge Atlaoui, 51, had an appeal rejected by Indonesia’s Supreme Court, taking him closer to execution by firing squad for his role in a clandestine ecstasy lab near Jakarta.
Imprisoned in Indonesia for a decade, the father-of-four denies the charges, saying he was installing industrial machinery in what he thought was an acrylics factory.
If put to death, Atlaoui would be the first Frenchman to be executed anywhere in nearly 40 years. He is one of several foreign drug convicts on death row in Indonesia who recently lost appeals for presidential clemency. They are expected to be executed once final legal appeals are resolved.
– AFP
