French president François Hollande said his country was doing "everything" it can to save a Frenchman accused of drug offences in Indonesia from the firing squad after he lost an appeal against his death sentence on Monday, reports Yahoo! News.
Serge Atlaoui, 51, was due to be executed alongside eight other drug offenders two months ago but won a temporary reprieve after Paris stepped up pressure, with Indonesian authorities agreeing to let an outstanding appeal run its course.
On Monday the State Administrative Court in Jakarta dismissed Atlaoui's appeal, in which his lawyers argued that the president rejected the convict's plea for clemency without proper consideration.
The court upheld its previous decision from April that it did not have the jurisdiction to hear the challenge to the clemency plea, which is typically a death row convict's final chance to avoid execution.
"It will be up to the lawyers to decide what other avenues to pursue" said the French head of state to the press after a European summit in Brussels late Monday, adding "France, without going into the legal debate, is doing everything to keep Serge Atlaoui alive."
The execution in April of two Australians, a Brazilian, four Nigerians and an Indonesian sparked global anger. But President Joko Widodo insists convicted traffickers must be harshly punished, saying Indonesia is facing a crisis due to rising drug use.