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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

France calls in Indonesian ambassador over citizen facing execution with Bali nine ringleaders

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Serge Atlaoui
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius summoned the Indonesian ambassador on Wednesday to discuss the case of a Frenchman facing the death penalty for drug offences, a government spokesman told AFP.

The summons came a day after Serge Atlaoui, 51, had an appeal rejected by Indonesia's Supreme Court, taking him closer to execution by firing squad for his role in a clandestine ecstasy lab near Jakarta.

Atlaoui is one of several foreign drug convicts on death row in Indonesia who recently lost appeals for presidential clemency. They are expected to be executed together once final legal appeals are resolved.

They include two members of the Bali nine smuggling ring, Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.

Imprisoned in Indonesia for a decade, Atlaoui, a father-of-four, has always denied the charges, saying he was installing industrial machinery in what he thought was an acrylics factory.

His relatives have issued impassioned appeals in recent days, begging French President Francois Hollande and the European Union to save him.

Atlaoui is one of several foreign drug convicts on death row in Indonesia who recently lost appeals for presidential clemency. They are expected to be executed together once final legal appeals are resolved.

The French ambassador to Indonesia warned last week that executing Atlaoui would have "consequences" for relations between Paris and Jakarta.

Drug laws in Indonesia are among the world's toughest.

President Joko Widodo, who took office in October, has been a vocal supporter of putting drug traffickers to death, saying the country is facing a narcotics emergency.

Source: Agence France-Presse, April 22, 2015

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