Serge Atlaoui

[Ognir]

Sorry was slow putting 2 and 2 together

This guy Serge Atlaoui, 51, has been in prison in Indonisisa for the past 10 years or so
Convicted of drug dealing, big no-no there and he has been sentenced to death

Over the past few years listening to french radio, his name comes up often.

Hollande and foreign minister have pleaded with the new leader to spare him, some bullshit from Hollande "no country in the world should have the death penalty"

Didn't figure until today, why he is so special

[Ognir]

France warns Indonesia against executing French citizen Serge Atlaoui for drug offences

Posted Wed at 9:20pm

French president Francois Hollande has warned Indonesia that the execution of a Frenchman for drug offences will damage ties between the two countries.

French foreign minister Laurent 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.

Atlaoui's wife Sabine said she had been the one to break the news of the rejected appeal to him.

"I spoke to him on the phone this morning," she said from Indonesia.

"He called me from prison and ... I finally was able to give him the terrible news.

"My husband is strong, he is a fighter, brave and ready to continue fighting until the end."

His family has issued impassioned appeals in recent days, begging Mr Hollande and the European Union to save him.

On Wednesday, the French leader warned that executing Atlaoui "would be damaging for Indonesia, damaging for the relations that we would like to have with it".

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, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who recently lost appeals for presidential clemency.

They are expected to be executed once final legal appeals are resolved.
Indonesia unlikely to budge on death penalty

Drug laws in Indonesia are among the world's toughest.

President Joko Widodo, who took office in October, has been a vocal supporter of putting drug traffickers to death, saying the country is facing a narcotics emergency.

In January, the country executed six people accused of drug trafficking, including Brazilian and Dutch nationals.

As such, analysts believe France's repeated calls for clemency have little chance of succeeding.

"Politically, he [Widodo] has understood that Indonesians want a firm leader, and he wants to show that he is a firm president, compared to his predecessor [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] who was known for his indecision," political analyst Yohanes Sulaiman said.

Added to this, the death penalty has considerable support in Indonesia among the elites and wider population.

According to a poll conducted by the Indo Barometer agency among 1,200 people last month, more than 84 per cent of those questioned were in favour of sentencing drug traffickers to death.

In any case, it is unlikely that France or other countries whose nationals are also on death row will impose any serious sanctions on Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

After the first batch of executions in January, Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors in protest, though the diplomats came back after just a few weeks.

AFP

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-23/france-warns-indonesia-against-executing-french-citizen/6414080

[Ognir]

How will the tribe get this guy out now as they didn't shoot him