A grandmother who endured 12 years on death row in Indonesia is set to return to the UK following her 12-year imprisonment. Lindsay Sandiford, a former legal secretary from Redcar in the North East, was sentenced to death in 2013 after being caught with $2.14 million worth of cocaine hidden in her suitcase upon arriving from Thailand the previous year.
Fortunately, Sandiford will not face the firing squad, which Indonesia uses for executions. Instead, she will be repatriated to the UK along with another Brit named Shahab Shahabadi, as confirmed by an Indonesian official. The transfer will take place once the technical details are finalized.
In Indonesia, executions are rare, with most inmates spending over a decade on death row. The last executions occurred in 2015, and currently, 130 individuals, including Sandiford, are awaiting their fate. Sandiford’s legal troubles began in 2012 when she was arrested in Bali for carrying a large amount of cocaine in her luggage. Initially claiming coercion by a criminal gang, she later confessed after facing the death penalty.
Despite appeals and arguments of being forced into drug trafficking due to mental health issues, Sandiford was found guilty and sentenced to death. Her appeals were dismissed, leading to her incarceration at Kerobokan Prison in Bali. However, Bali’s relaxed drug smuggling laws paved the way for her release, given her good behavior during her more than 10 years in prison.
Foreign Office officials have been actively involved in securing Sandiford’s freedom, as she prepares for her potential release by giving away her belongings to fellow inmates. The move to repatriate high-profile drug offenders aligns with Indonesia’s recent actions, including the return of other individuals to their home countries on humanitarian grounds due to illnesses or changes in drug laws.