Frenchman on Indonesia death row for almost 20 years over drug offences released from prison

PARIS – A Frenchman who spent almost two decades on death row in Indonesia over drug offences before being returned to France left prison on July 18 after being granted a conditional release.

Mr Serge Atlaoui, a 61-year-old welder from Metz in eastern France, was

flown back to France

in February after being on death row in Indonesia since 2007.

He was greeted by his lawyer, Mr Richard Sedillot, as he walked out of the gate of Meaux prison near Paris, wearing a white T-shirt and grey trousers.

“He will be able to breathe the freedom that he waited for for all these years,” his wife, Ms Sabine Atlaoui, told RTL broadcaster shortly before his release, which she called “unbelievable”.

She has not yet “fully realised” that her husband “is back and will be with us again every day”, she said.

The father of four had his sentence adapted by the French courts to 30 years’ imprisonment and then was approved for conditional release.

“The story of Serge Atlaoui, who was sentenced to death, is a life lesson,” Mr Sedillot said. “His resilience, his courage, his patience and his humanity are lessons for all of us.”

Diplomatic pressure

Mr Atlaoui was arrested in 2005 at a factory in a Jakarta suburb where dozens of kilogrammes of drugs were discovered, and accused of being a “chemist” by the authorities.

He has always denied being a drug trafficker, saying he was installing machinery in what he thought was an acrylic factory.

Initially sentenced to life in prison, he had his sentence reviewed by Indonesia’s Supreme Court and changed to death on appeal.

He was due to be executed alongside eight others in 2015 but was granted a reprieve after Paris applied pressure and the Indonesian authorities allowed an outstanding appeal to proceed.

Mr Atlaoui’s case attracted attention in Indonesia and in France, where supporters saw him as a symbol of the fight against the death penalty.

France abolished capital punishment in 1981.

Pressure applied by the French government was key to her husband’s release, Ms Atlaoui said.

“It’s very clear that diplomatic efforts during all those years allowed my husband to return,” she said.

Indonesia, which has some of the world’s toughest drug laws, recently released several high-profile detainees, including a

Filipino mother on death row

and the last five members of the so-called Bali Nine drug ring. AFP