A British grandmother who spent 12 years on death row in Indonesia after being convicted of drug trafficking flew house on Friday, as a part of a deal between the UK and Indonesian governments.
Lindsay Sandiford, 69, was sentenced to dying on the island of Bali in 2013, after she was discovered with almost 5kg of cocaine price £1.6m ($2.1m) when she arrived on a flight from Thailand in 2012.
Indonesia has a number of the world’s most stringent drug legal guidelines, but it surely has freed a number of high-profile detainees, together with the notorious “Bali Nine” drug ring, previously yr.
Sandiford was repatriated together with one other British nationwide Shahab Shahabadi, who had been serving a life sentence for drug smuggling.
Their flight left Bali at about 00:30 native time (16:30 GMT Thursday), Indonesian officers mentioned.
Sandiford and Shahabadi have been each mentioned to be affected by well being issues whereas in jail. Final month, Indonesia’s senior legislation and human rights minister, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, mentioned Sandiford was “critically unwell” whereas Shahabadi had “numerous severe sicknesses, together with psychological well being points”, AFP information company reported.
Sandiford attended a press convention within the Bali jail in a wheelchair hours earlier than she was attributable to fly house.
She had admitted to the offences in 2013, however mentioned she solely agreed to hold the cocaine after a drug syndicate threatened to kill her son.
The UK’s Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia Matthew Downing mentioned Sandiford and Shahabadi have been being repatriated on “humanitarian grounds”.
They are going to be given vital therapy whereas being “ruled by the legislation and procedures of the UK” upon their return, he added.
In December 2024, Indonesia repatriated the 5 remaining members of the “Bali 9” drug ring, after they served almost 20 years in Indonesian prisons. The 2 ringleaders have been executed by firing squad in 2015.
Additionally in December, Filipina Mary Jane Veloso was repatriated to the Philippines. The mom of two, who was almost executed, had all the time maintained she was tricked into carrying the medicine discovered on her.
