Indonesia sends ailing French national on death row back home

Serge Atlaoui, an ailing French national who has spent almost 20 years on death row in Indonesia ahead of his return to France (Tatan Syuflana/AP)

Indonesian authorities have escorted an ailing French national who has been on death row to the airport in Jakarta as his return to France got underway following an agreement between the two nations.

Serge Atlaoui, who has spent almost 20 years in an Indonesian prison for drug offences, won a last-minute reprieve from execution by a 13-member firing squad in 2015, after France’s government stepped up pressure because Atlaoui still had an outstanding court appeal.