French national Serge Atlaoui 'not a drug user, not a trafficker, not a drug baron': French Ambassador

Serge Atlaoui: "Not a drug user, not a trafficker"

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - French Ambassador Corinne Breuze said the death sentence and a threat of execution of a Frenchman in Indonesia has been received as a disturbing news in France.

"The report is greatly disturbing for the French people as since 1981, no French citizen has been punished with death either in France or abroad," Breuze told a news conference at the French embassy here on Thursday.

Therefore, all people of France including its government gave support to the family of Serge Atlaoui, the Frenchman, who was given a death penalty for cases of ecstasy factory.

"Serge Atlaoui is not a user, a dealer or the owner of the drug factory. We hope the law authorities give a serious attention to his bid for a review (PK) of the sentence and could give a fair decision," the ambassador said.

Meanwhile PK on the case of Atlaoui has been submitted to the Tangerang District Court on February 10, 2015 and the court would hold a session on the PK request on 11 March, 2015.

Atlaoui's team of lawyers led by Nancy Yuliana said the court of justice could have erred in making the decision in earlier court sessions.

Serge Atlaoui was given the death penalty by the Supreme Court in 2007.

Earlier the district court of Tangerang declared Atlaoui was involved in the operation of Asia's largest ecstasy factory located in Cikande, regency of Serang, Banten.

The District Court in 2006 gave him a life sentence and the sentence was confirmed by the Banten high court in 2007, but the Supreme Court gave him the death penalty.

Atlaoui is one of the convicts to face the firing squad after their appeals for clemency were rejected by President Joko Widodo.

The attorney general office said 11 convicts including 8 drug convicts and three pre-medidated murders would be the next to be executed.

The 8 drug convicts are Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from Australia, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso from the Philippines, Martin Anderson from Ghana, Raheem Agbaje Salami from Spain, Rodrigo Gularte from Brazil and Zainal Abidin from Indonesia.

The thee murder convicts are Syfial Iyen bin Azwar, Harun bin Ajis and Sargawi alias Ali bin Sanusi -- all Indonesians.

Last month six other drug convicts were executed drawing strong protest from a number of countries.

Among the strongest protesting countries are Brazil, Australia and the Netherlands.

The Brazilian government rejected credentials of new Indonesian ambassador and Indonesian reacted by ordering the ambassador to return home.

Australia reminded Indonesia of its humanitarian aid for Aceh tsunami in 2004 in bid to safe the life of the two Australian to face the execution.

The Netherlands recalled its ambassador.

Indonesia, however, remains adamant and President Joko Widodo has said he would not give clemency for drug convicts.

Source: AntaraNews, February 26, 2015

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Iran | 10 executed in Ahvaz, Isfahan, Karaj

Four prisoners, including an Afghan national, were executed at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. All four had been sentenced to death under Iran’s qisas (retributive justice) laws on murder charges. According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, one of the executed prisoners was identified as Gol Agha Eskandari, an Afghan national. Eskandari had been convicted of murder following a dispute between neighbors in the Khorasan Square area of Tehran in July 2024 and subsequently sentenced to death.

Judge allows Tennessee death row inmates to include botched executions in lawsuit

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Iran executes three more January protesters accused of spying for Israel, US

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Oklahoma executes James Pavatt

Pavatt claimed innocence in the slaying of an Oklahoma City advertising executive for insurance money. His co-defendant and former lover Brenda Andrew is also on death row. James Pavatt made no final statement before being executed Thursday for killing his lover’s estranged husband nearly 25 years ago. Pavatt merely shook his head when asked by Oklahoma Department of Corrections Chief of Operations Jason Sparks if he had any last words. Pavatt appeared to share a quick word with Michael Scott, his spiritual advisor, after microphones inside the death chamber had been cut off.

Oklahoma Death Row inmate James Pavatt scheduled to be executed Thursday

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Two men set to be executed in Texas and Oklahoma today

The U.S. was preparing to carry out two executions on Thursday, one in Oklahoma and one in Texas. In Texas, the condemned man is John Allen Rubio, 46, who is set to be put to death at the state prison in Huntsville. He was convicted of beheading three young children he was raising in a 2003 killing that rattled a community along the U.S.-Mexico border. The other man facing execution is James Pavatt, 73, who is set to die by lethal injection at Oklahoma's state penitentiary in McAlester.

Florida executes Jesse Guardado

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Vigil planned ahead of high-profile Oklahoma inmate's execution

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — After the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency for a high-profile death row inmate in Oklahoma, a local organization is protesting his execution. James Pavatt was sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of Rob Andrew, a 39-year-old Oklahoma City advertising executive and father of two. Evidence presented at Pavatt's trial showed that he began an affair with Andrew's wife, Brenda Andrew, in 2001. Prosecutors argued that the murder was especially cruel and that Pavatt killed Andrew for an $800,000 insurance policy.

Alabama executes Michael Shannon Taylor

Alabama executes man convicted of 1991 double murder The state of Alabama carried out the execution of 54-year-old Michael Shannon Taylor Thursday night for the 1991 murders of an elderly Etowah County couple, 35 years and 1 day after the crime. Taylor, convicted in 1993 on 3 counts of capital murder, was sentenced to death unanimously by a jury for killing 83-year-old Ivan Ernest Moore and 79-year-old Lucille Moore inside their Gadsden home during a robbery. Taylor was 19 at the time.

Why Many Americans Think Christa Pike Should Undergo a Second Execution Attempt

On October 20, Reuters released the results of a survey showing that 33% of the American public want Tennessee to try again to put Christa Pike to death. Another 26% are undecided. That means 59% of the public would support or be open to such a possibility. I want to suggest a reason why. Second execution attempts are rare in this country and, as a result, the public knows little if anything about them. That may help explain why so many would give Tennessee another chance to kill Christa Pike.

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