The French ambassador in Jakarta on
Friday warned Indonesia that executing a Frenchman on death row on drugs
charges would have "consequences" for the bilateral relationship.
"If the execution is carried
out, it will not be without consequence for our bilateral relationship,"
ambassador Corinne Breuze told reporters in Jakarta, adding that France, which
abolished the death penalty in 1981, was opposed to capital punishment in every
circumstance.
Serge Atlaoui, 51, was arrested near
Jakarta in 2005 in a secret laboratory producing ecstasy and sentenced to death
two years later.
Imprisoned in Indonesia for a
decade, the father-of-four has always denied the charges, saying he was
installing industrial machinery in what he thought was an acrylics factory.
He has appealed his case before the
Supreme Court, and a verdict is expected imminently.
If rejected, his execution and that
of other foreigners -- including citizens from Australia, Brazil, Philippines,
Ghana, Nigeria -- could be very soon.
The Indonesian government has
already compiled a list of those to face the firing squad next after conducting
a round of executions in January, the first since 2013.
In the Atlaoui case, eight others
arrested alongside the Frenchman were also sentenced to death.
But "what appears shocking to
us is that our compatriot is the only one on the list to be executed",
said the ambassador.
"I recall Serge Atlaoui was
convicted as a chemist, when he was a solderer with a minor role in this
affair," she said, adding the French government were "prepared to
assist Indonesia in its fight against drug trafficking".
Drug laws in Indonesia are among the
toughest in the world.
President Joko Widodo, who took
office in October, has rejected all requests for clemency from drug dealers
sentenced to death, claiming the country is facing a narcotics emergency.
However Indonesia has been actively
trying to save its citizens on death row abroad. Jakarta protested the
execution this week of two Indonesian women in Saudi Arabia.
Atlaoui's wife Sabine pleaded with
the president, saying her husband did not deserve to die and her family had
been living through "psychological torture".
"A member of the prosecutor's
office has already asked us for my husband's measurements for his future
coffin, which is unimaginable and inconceivable given the situation we are
in," she said.
Sentences of conditional IF :
- · If the execution is carried out, it will not be without consequence for our bilateral relationship
- · If rejected, his execution and that of other foreigners -- including citizens from Australia, Brazil, Philippines, Ghana, Nigeria -- could be very soon.