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CRIME

Paris hauls in Indonesian envoy over death penalty

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.

Paris hauls in Indonesian envoy over death penalty
French death row prisoner Serge Atlaoui and his Indonesian lawyer Nancy Yuliana. Photo: Romeo Gacad/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.

Imprisoned in Indonesia for a decade, the 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 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.

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.

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BANKING

Danish bank to pay millions to end French laundering probe

Denmark’s largest bank has agreed to pay a multi-million sum to end legal pursuits in France linked to alleged money laundering in its Estonian subsidiary that resulted in heavy US penalties

Danish bank to pay millions to end French laundering probe

Danske Bank will pay €6.3million (47million kroner) to end French financial authorities’ investigation.

An independent auditor’s report published in 2018 alleged Danske Bank’s Estonian unit allegedly laundered some €200billion through 15,000 accounts from 2007 to 2015.

The payment was agreed on August 27th with France’s national financial crime prosecutors and validated by a court on Wednesday. The agreement does not involve any admission of guilt.

Danske last December pleaded guilty in the United States and paid a $2billion fine.

The bank last October set aside an amount roughly equal to its US fine in expectation of legal pursuits in several countries.

Probes are underway in Estonia, Denmark, and Britain.

France charged Danske in 2019 with organised money laundering, which it denied, saying it was unaware of its Estonian subsidiary’s activities.

Tracfin, the French finance ministry’s anti-money laundering unit, found suspect movements on two accounts linked to a Franco-Russian businesswoman who has since been handed a two-year suspended sentence.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Danske’s counsel Niels Heering said his institution was “happy to reach this accord which for us is a way to close this chapter”, adding that “cracking down on financial fraud remains a priority” for the bank.

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