Frenchman sentenced to death in Indonesia

A court on Indonesia's Lombok island has sentenced to death a French national for drug smuggling, his lawyer says.

Felix Dorfin, 35, was arrested at Lombok airport in September with an assortment of drugs, including ecstasy and methamphetamine, that weighed three kilograms.

He escaped from police detention in January but was recaptured 11 days later.

"It's a shocking verdict because the prosecutor only demanded 20 years in prison," said Dorfin's lawyer, Deny Nur Indra.

Indonesia imposes tough penalties for drug offences, with the government arguing that capital punishment is necessary to reduce rampant drug abuse.

The country has executed 18 people, mostly drug traffickers, since President Joko Widodo took office in 2014.