Indonésie | Il y a 5 ans, Serge Atlaoui échappait de justesse à son exécution

Serge Atlaoui, sa femme Sabine, et leur fils

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Le 29 avril 2015, Serge Atlaoui, condamné à la peine capitale en Indonésie pour trafic de drogue échappait in extremis à son exécution mais il reste depuis incarcéré dans le couloir de la mort.

"On est traumatisés, on a du mal à se replonger dans cette période", souffle l'épouse de Serge Atlaoui. Quand la fin avril approche "on revit toute cette souffrance et cette cruauté", témoigne Sabine Atlaoui, 46 ans. De cela, elle ne parle pas avec son mari, de dix ans son aîné. "On évite de s'infliger cette douleur", glisse cette secrétaire, employée en Moselle.

Serge Atlaoui avait été arrêté en 2005 lors du démantèlement d'un laboratoire clandestin d'ecstasy, dans la banlieue de Jakarta. Soudeur de profession, il soutenait n'avoir fait qu'installer des machines dans ce qu'il croyait être une usine d'acrylique.

Ce travail au noir, il l'aurait accepté pour rembourser l'emprunt contracté pour s'offrir un pavillon. En 2007, il est condamné à mort, puis incarcéré sur l'île-prison de Nusakabangan. L'Indonésie a fait de la lutte contre les stupéfiants une priorité nationale. Les trafiquants y encourent de longues peines de prison, voire la peine capitale.

Après la condamnation de son mari, Sabine Atlaoui, épaulée par l'association "Ensemble contre la peine de mort" (ECPM), multiplie les démarches, écrit à Robert Badinter, artisan de l'abolition de la peine de mort en France, rencontre des conseillers du président Sarkozy...

UN SIMPLE TRAVAILLEUR

Mais en 2014, le nouveau président indonésien Joko Widodo rejette toutes les demandes de grâce des condamnés à mort pour trafic de drogue. Et début 2015, Jakarta ordonne l'exécution de dix trafiquants étrangers, dont Serge Atlaoui. Celle-ci est prévue le 29 avril.

Une course contre la montre s'engage alors pour le faire retirer de la liste. Des rassemblements de soutien sont organisés à Paris et Metz, des démarches diplomatiques menées discrètement. Puis Paris hausse le ton.

"S'il est exécuté, il y aura des conséquences avec la France et l'Europe parce qu'on ne peut pas accepter ce type d'exécutions", prévient le président François Hollande.

"Je suis un simple travailleur ayant réparé des machines. On m'a accusé d'être un chimiste. Ce que je demande, c'est une chance de prouver que je suis un homme bon et un bon père", plaide Serge Atlaoui, crâne rasé et chemise blanche, devant un tribunal qui rejettera son recours, dans un documentaire de Christine Tournadre, "Serge, condamné à mort".

Son nom et celui d'une ressortissante philippine sont finalement rayés de la liste, quelques jours avant la date fatidique. Mais les huit autres condamnés seront passés par les armes.

"Une médiatisation efficace", un travail minutieux avec le ministère des Affaires étrangères et un "discours ferme mais jamais injurieux" à l'égard des autorités indonésiennes ont permis de sauver Serge Atlaoui, selon son avocat, Richard Sédillot, également porte-parole d'ECPM.

ME BATTRE POUR LUI

"Peut-être aussi, la possibilité qu'il soit innocent les a effleurés", avance-t-il. Serge Atlaoui a cependant épuisé toutes les voies de recours et même si Jakarta a suspendu les exécutions depuis 2016, il reste condamné à mort. "Serge Atlaoui est un innocent dans le couloir de la mort", affirme Richard Sédillot qui défend bénévolement ce grand gaillard lorrain.

"Il faut continuer, il ne faut pas croire qu'il ne se passe rien, qu'il n'est pas en danger. Ce qu'on a vécu, on peut le revivre", redoute Sabine Atlaoui, brune aux cheveux longs, le prénom de son mari, encadré par deux coeurs rouges, tatoué sur un bras.

Le quotidien de Serge Atlaoui, qui suit l'actualité française, est rythmé par les lectures et les appels de sa famille. "C'est un lien indispensable pour qu'il se sente en vie, qu'il ne se laisse pas envahir par le couloir de la mort", souligne-t-elle. Mais avec l'épidémie de Covid-19, "il n'a plus de visites, plus de livres, plus de nourriture de l'extérieur", soupire Sabine Atlaoui.

Depuis 2005, elle se rend en Indonésie quand ses finances le permettent. Mais elle craint de devoir annuler son prochain voyage, prévu à l'été avec leur fils conçu en prison en 2011, en raison de l'épidémie.

"J'ai repoussé mes limites à chaque fois, sans savoir si j'allais réussir à surmonter tout ça et j'ai eu cette force. Mais ce n'est rien face à l'isolement et la peur de l'exécution" vécus par son mari. "Comment pourrais-je baisser les bras et ne pas me battre pour lui?", s'interroge-t-elle.

Source: RTL, AFP, 1 mai 2020

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but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

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