The Frenchman Michael Blanc should return to France this Sunday



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Michael White at Denpasar Prison in Bali, February 2004. – AUDEBERT DIDIER / SIPA

The end of a fierce fight that lasted nearly 19 years. Michaël Blanc, a cook from Haute-Savoie, in the French Alps, was arrested in December 1999, at the age of 26, at the international airport of the tourist island of Bali with 3.8 kilos of hashish in diving bottles. He had stated that a friend had entrusted him to transport them.

Sentenced to life imprisonment, he received a partial pardon in 2009 and his sentence was commuted to 20 years in prison. After being released on parole, he was released from prison in 2014, but under judicial control with a ban on leaving Indonesia, a restriction that ends on Saturday.

"Expected to be deported to 21 hours local time To France

The 45-year-old Frenchman will leave the Southeast Asian archipelago in the evening, an official of the Indonesian Ministry of Justice told AFP. [19659003] Michael Blanc must go to the immigration services in the afternoon and then "it is expected that he will be expelled at 21 hours local," told AFP an immigration spokesman. Indonesian law provides that foreigners who have served their entire sentence are deported to their country of origin.

The heaviness of the Frenchman's conviction in one of the most repressive countries in the world against drug trafficking was strongly criticized in France. The mediatization of his situation triggered an important mobilization in the country, with petitions signed by personalities and many anonymous.

But it is his mother, who gave up everything – job, family, country – from the year 2000 to come to his rescue, that Michael White owes his salvation. Hélène Le Touzey was very involved, first to obtain a reduction of sentence, and then to release him.

"If I had not been there, he would not be there anymore. One moment, he had asked me to leave to be able to finish life. He told me that I would never be able to get his release, "his mother said when he was released from prison in 2014.

Invited by Thierry Ardisson

From the beginning of the case, French television host Thierry Ardisson defended the prisoner during his broadcasts, going so far as to organize a "Michaëlthon" – a celebrity auction – to finance his support committee.

Impatient of to meet Michael Blanc on his return to France, Thierry Ardisson told AFP that he was a "modern hero at the Midnight Express ", a reference to Alan Parker's film on an American detained in Turkey for drug trafficking. The host said he was going to invite Michaël Blanc on his show, which will resume in September on the C8 channel.

The French family is delighted to see him finally come back to the country: "We are extremely happy to know Today we are waiting for him with a lot of emotions, "said Alfredo Descalzi, Michael Blanc's uncle and secretary of his support badociation, CNews.

" It's been a month that he is in France in his mind. He wished with great force to return to his country, "he added.

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