Inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta.   Indonesia respects the French government's decision to grant conditional release to Serge Atlaoui, a French man previously sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug production, said Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, Yusril Ihza Mahendra on Thursday (17/7/2025).

“This ruling opens the door for France to grant conditional release, considering that Atlaoui has served 20 years in Indonesia,” he said, referring to the French court’s decision to commute Atlaoui’s death sentence to 30 years’ imprisonment, which is France’s legal maximum for such crimes.

The repatriation was based on a bilateral practical arrangement signed via videoconference in January 2025. France acknowledged Atlaoui’s conviction in Indonesia and assumed responsibility for his further rehabilitation. 

Due to his illness and on humanitarian grounds, Indonesia agreed to his return, reaffirming that final sentencing authority now lies entirely with France.

Atlaoui was arrested in 2005 in a Tangerang ecstasy lab raid and sentenced to death in 2007. His clemency plea was rejected in 2015.

(mg/inp/pr/rs)