During a meeting on Wednesday President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and French President Francois Hollande apparently failed to discuss Indonesia’s controversial policy on the death penalty that France has repeatedly criticized.

France had several times requested Indonesia halt the plan to execute one of its citizens, Serge Atlaoui, who was put on death row after being convicted of drug charges, warning that the relationship between the two countries could suffer if it went ahead.

Foreign Affairs Minister Retno LP Marsudi, who accompanied Jokowi during the meeting, said that the two leaders discussed ways to improve bilateral ties between Indonesia and France, but none of the topics were related to Sergei’s fate or Indonesia’s death penalty.

“There was no [such topic discussed],” Retno said at the State Palace.

Hollande was in Jakarta for a one-day state visit as part of a week-long Southeast Asian trip. He arrived in Jakarta after earlier visiting Singapore and Malaysia.

(Read also: Indonesia court rejects appeal of Frenchman facing execution)

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.

Despite international and domestic condemnation, the Jokowi administration has carried out three rounds of executions since the President took office in late 2014.

In January 2015, six convicts were executed, while another eight were executed in April 2015. The most recent round of executions was in July 2016, when four convicts were shot dead. (dan)

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by Haeril Halim

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