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A Frenchman who spent nearly twenty years on death row in Indonesia for drug-related offences was released on Friday after receiving a conditional release.
Serge Atlaoui, a 61-year-old welder from Metz, located in eastern France, was flown back home in February after being on death row in Indonesia since 2007.
As he exited the gate of Meaux prison near Paris, he was welcomed by his lawyer, Richard Sedillot, while wearing a white T-shirt and grey pants. His wife said that she had not yet “fully realised” that her husband “is back and will be with us again every day.”
The father of four had his sentence modified by the French courts to 30 years’ imprisonment before being approved for conditional release.
Atlaoui was taken into custody in 2005 at a factory in a Jakarta suburb where large quantities of drugs were found, and he was labelled a “chemist” by the authorities.
He has consistently denied being involved in drug trafficking, saying that he was simply setting up machinery in what he believed was an acrylic factory.
Initially given a life sentence, his sentence was reviewed by Indonesia’s supreme court and changed to death on appeal. He was scheduled to be executed alongside eight others in 2015 but received a stay after France exerted pressure, allowing an outstanding appeal to proceed with the Indonesian authorities.
Atlaoui’s situation garnered attention in both Indonesia and France, where his supporters regarded him as a representation of the struggle against the death penalty.
Indonesia, known for its severe drug laws, has recently released several high-profile inmates, including a Filipina mother on death row and the last five members of the infamous “Bali Nine” drug syndicate.
