French president warns Indonesia of 'consequences' if Frenchman executed

French president warns Indonesia of 'consequences' if Frenchman executed

BAKU - French President Francois Hollande warned Saturday that Indonesia faced diplomatic "consequences" if it pushes ahead with the planned execution of Frenchman Serge Atlaoui over drug trafficking offences.

"If he is executed, there will be consequences with France and Europe because we cannot accept this type of execution," he told reporters during a visit to Baku in Azerbaijan, adding that the repercussions would essentially be of a "diplomatic" nature.

"At the very least, we will recall our ambassador" from Jakarta, the president said, adding that he would also not visit Indonesia "for some time".

In addition, discussions over possible co-operation that had been mooted between Hollande and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo during the November G20 summit could also be suspended.

[[nid:167627]]

"We will take action along with concerned countries - Australia and Brazil... to ensure that there is no execution," Hollande said, adding that he is meeting Australian PM Tony Abbott on Monday.

"We understand that Indonesia wants to fight against drug trafficking but, in this case, Serge Atlaoui was working in a laboratory and he did not imagine that he could make this product," said Hollande.

Atlaoui also did not have any prior criminal records, added the French president.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.