A British grandmother who spent 12 years on death row in Indonesia after being convicted of drug trafficking flew home on Friday, as part of a deal between the UK and Indonesian governments.
Lindsay Sandiford, 69, was sentenced to death on the island of Bali in 2013 after almost 5kg of cocaine worth £1.6 million ($2.1 million) was found on her when she arrived on a flight from Thailand in 2012.
Indonesia has some of the strictest anti-drug laws in the world, but last year it released several high-profile detainees, including from the infamous “Bali Nine” drug ring.
Sandiford was repatriated along with another British citizen, Shahab Shahabadi, who was serving a life sentence for drug trafficking.
Their flight left Bali around 12:30 a.m. local time (4:30 p.m. GMT Thursday), Indonesian officials said.
Both Sandiford and Shahabadi were said to be suffering from health problems while in prison. Last month, Indonesian Law and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said Sandiford was “seriously ill,” while Shahabadi had “several serious illnesses, including mental health problems,” the AFP news agency reported.
Sandiford attended a press conference at Bali prison in a wheelchair hours before his return home.
She had admitted the offenses in 2013 but said she only agreed to carry the cocaine after a drugs syndicate threatened to kill her son.
The UK’s deputy ambassador to Indonesia, Matthew Downing, said Sandiford and Shahabadi were being repatriated on “humanitarian grounds”.
Upon their return, they will receive the necessary treatment and “will be governed by the laws and procedures of the United Kingdom,” he added.
In December 2024, Indonesia repatriated the five remaining members of the “Bali Nine” drug trafficking network, after having served almost 20 years in Indonesian prisons. The two ringleaders were executed by firing squad in 2015.
Also in December, Filipino Mary Jane Veloso was repatriated to the Philippines. The mother of two, who was almost executed, had always maintained that she was tricked into carrying the drugs found on her.
