Frenchman sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Indonesia

An Indonesian court sentenced a French national to death on Monday for drug trafficking, his lawyer said, after prosecutors had called for a 20-year prison sentence. Felix Dorfin, 35, was convicted of trafficking more than 2 kilograms of drugs from France to the Indonesian holiday island of Lombok after being arrested in September last year.

"The judge gave a heavier sentence because of the amount and kinds of drugs Dorfin was carrying," Denny Nur Indra, Dorfin's lawyer told Reuters, adding the ruling came as a shock and Dorfin will appeal. The Frenchman was found carrying large amounts of ecstasy, crystal methamphetamine, and marijuana in a suitcase but tested negative for drug use, leading prosecutors to believe he intended to distribute the drugs.

Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries have notoriously harsh anti-narcotics laws. Indonesia executes convicted drug traffickers by firing squad and faced international criticism in 2015 when it executed several foreign nationals including two Australians who were leaders of the Bali Nine trafficking ring.

There has been an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty for drug trafficking since 2016, but several foreigners remain on death row. 

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