Indonesia, France likely to sign agreement over repatriation of death row convict

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia is likely to sign an agreement with France before the end of this month over the repatriation of a Frenchman who is on death row on charges of drug offences, a senior minister said on Tuesday.

France had previously requested the transfer of Serge Atlaoui, who has been jailed in Indonesia since 2005, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, a senior minister for law and human rights affairs, told reporters.

Indonesia and France are currently negotiating legal requirements and technical procedures over the repatriation. The negotiation is expected to be settled before the end of January, Yusril said.

"The negotiation is almost final ... We are likely to approve the request of the French government to return him to France," Yusril said.

Atlaoui was sentenced to death for being a chemist in an ecstasy factory in the capital Jakarta that was capable of producing 100 kilograms of the illegal pills every week. He has maintained his innocence, saying he thought he was working in an acrylics factory.

One of Indonesia's considerations to allow the repatriation was because Atlaoui had cancer, the minister said.

In 2015, Atlaoui was about to be executed with seven other foreign prisoners but was granted a last-minute reprieve.

The Indonesian court then rejected his appeal against the death sentence, leaving him with no other legal options.

Jakarta had repatriated Mary Jane Veloso, a Philippine woman who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking in December last year, days after the five remaining members of the "Bali Nine" drug ring were sent back to Australia.

(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; editing by David Evans)