A French man who has been on death row in Indonesia since 2007 on drug charges is expected to return home in the coming weeks after Indonesia's minister announced on Friday that a deal would be signed to allow his transfer. .
Senior Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusuru Isa Mahendra told Reuters on Friday that Serge Atraoui is expected to return to France on February 5 or 6.
Indonesia has released six high-profile detainees in recent weeks, including a Filipino mother on death row and the last five members of the so-called Bali Nine drug gang.
Indonesian authorities will hold a press conference with their French counterparts on Friday to announce a transfer agreement for Atraoui, a 61-year-old welder who was arrested in 2005 at a pharmaceutical factory on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta, Mahendra said.
“We will sign the agreement at 3pm tomorrow. The French justice minister has already confirmed it today,” Mahendra told AFP late on Thursday.
In a media invitation, the ministry said a press conference would be held following the “private signing of a substantive agreement” for Atraoui's transfer.
The signing of the deal, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was first postponed to Thursday and then again to Friday for scheduling reasons, according to people close to the talks.
“The agreement will be signed early Friday afternoon in Jakarta by Mr. Yussle and French Minister of Justice Gerard Darmanin via video conference remotely from Paris,” the official said.
Atraoui is ill in a Jakarta prison and receives weekly hospital treatment, raising the possibility of transfer.
Paris formally submitted a transfer request last month and Attraoui's fate upon his return to France could also be announced on Friday.
Mr Atraoui, a father of four, has denied the drug charges since being jailed and claims he worked as a welder installing machinery at what he believed to be an acrylic factory.
He was initially sentenced to life in prison, but the Supreme Court increased the death penalty on appeal in 2007.
After his death sentence, Atraoui was detained on Nusakambangan Island in Central Java, known as Indonesia's Alcatraz, but was transferred to Tangerang, west of Jakarta, in 2015 ahead of his appeal.
That same year, he was scheduled to be executed along with eight other murdered drug offenders, but under increased pressure from the Paris government, Indonesian authorities agreed to leave pending appeals and a temporary He won a suspended sentence.
Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws and has executed foreigners in the past.
At least 530 people are on death row in the Southeast Asian country, mostly for drug-related crimes, data from rights group KontraS said, citing official figures.
As of early November, more than 90 foreigners were on death row on drug charges, according to Indonesia's Ministry of Immigration and Corrections.
Despite ongoing negotiations over Atlawi's transfer, the Indonesian government recently announced its intention to resume drug executions, which had been suspended since 2016.
