French drug convict loses appeal against death penalty in Indonesia
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A FRENCH drug convict in Indonesia yesterday lost an appeal against his death sentence, but his lawyers vowed to fight on and prevent another foreigner from facing the firing squad.
Serge Atlaoui, 51, was due to be executed alongside seven other foreign drug offenders two months ago but won a temporary reprieve after Paris stepped up pressure, with authorities agreeing to let an outstanding appeal run its course.
The execution in April of two Australians, a Brazilian and four Nigerians sparked global anger. But Indonesian President Joko Widodo insisted convicted traffickers must be harshly punished, saying Indonesia is facing a crisis due to rising drug use.
Yesterday, the State Administrative Court in Jakarta dismissed Atlaoui’s latest appeal, in which his lawyers said the president rejected the convict’s plea for clemency without proper consideration.
The court upheld its previous decision from April that it did not have the jurisdiction to hear the challenge to the clemency plea, which is typically a death row convict’s final chance.
“We are disappointed with the decision but we will continue to find other legal avenues,” said Atlaoui’s lawyer Nancy Yuliana, adding that the legal team was considering its next steps.
“From the very beginning, we knew that he was innocent ... We are not asking for him to be set free, we are just asking for his sentence to be reduced to life imprisonment.”
Tony Spontana, a spokesman for the attorney-general’s office, which is in charge of executions, said that the authorities “appreciate this decision.”
But he signaled the execution would not happen during Islam’s holiest month, Ramadan, which ends mid-July in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
“I think it’s not a wise decision to carry out an execution in Ramadan,” he said.
Atlaoui, a welder, was arrested in 2005 in a secret drugs factory outside Jakarta, with authorities accusing him of being a “chemist” at the site.
But the father of four has maintained his innocence, claiming he was installing machinery in what he thought was an acrylics plant.
He was initially sentenced to life in prison but the Supreme Court increased the sentence to death on appeal.
France has mounted a diplomatic campaign to save him, warning Jakarta of unspecified consequences if he is put to death and questioning Indonesia’s legal system.
Following yesterday’s decision, France’s European Affairs Minister Harlem Desir said “the whole of the French diplomatic service” was being mobilized to save Atlaoui.
“I want to restate our determination to fight against the death penalty everywhere in the world and, of course, to save the life of our compatriot,” he said.
After Widodo took office in October, he rejected pleas for clemency from Atlaoui and other foreigners, many of which had been pending for years.
The failure of the Frenchman’s latest legal bid came after the Supreme Court in April rejected another appeal — a request by his legal team for a judicial review of his death sentence.
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