Frenchman on Death Row in Indonesia Repatriated for Humanitarian Reasons

Serge Atlaoui, sentenced to death in 2007 for drug offenses, has been transferred to France following a bilateral agreement citing his severe illness.

• Serge Atlaoui, a 61-year-old Frenchman sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug offenses, was repatriated to France after nearly two decades in prison.
• The transfer was facilitated by a January 24 agreement between French and Indonesian justice ministers, allowing Atlaoui's return on humanitarian grounds due to his cancer diagnosis.
• Atlaoui, who has consistently denied being a drug trafficker, was arrested in 2005 for his alleged role in an ecstasy factory, claiming he believed it was an acrylics plant.
• Initially sentenced to life imprisonment, his punishment was increased to death on appeal by Indonesia's Supreme Court in 2007; he narrowly avoided execution in 2015 following pressure from France.
• Atlaoui is one of several high-profile foreign prisoners recently repatriated by Indonesia, which is considering new policies to ease prison overcrowding.

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