Jakarta, Indonesia – Lindsay Sandiford, a 69-year-old British grandmother, was allowed to return to the United Kingdom after spending 13 years on death row in Bali for cocaine smuggling.
Repatriation arrangements confirmed
Indonesian officials confirmed that Sandiford would be repatriated to the UK, along with 35-year-old Shahab Shahabadi, who had been serving a life sentence for drug offences and was reported to be in poor health. Indonesia’s law and human rights minister, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, told reporters in Jakarta that the technical details of the transfer would take about two weeks to finalise. A spokesman for the British Foreign Office said the UK had supported both prisoners and maintained ongoing talks with Indonesian authorities, and that the health of both detainees had been a significant consideration.
Allegations and arrest
Sandiford was arrested on Bali in 2012 after customs officers found 4.8 kilograms of cocaine in her luggage, with an estimated street value of about 70 million baht (roughly 1.6 million pounds). She was convicted and sentenced to death in 2013 under Indonesia’s stringent drug laws. Sandiford later admitted involvement in the smuggling but said she had acted under duress, claiming a criminal syndicate threatened her son if she did not cooperate.
Humanitarian solution despite no transfer treaty
There is no formal prisoner transfer agreement between Britain and Indonesia, and the usual practice is for convicts to serve sentences in the country where they were convicted. Officials said a humanitarian solution had been found in this case. The repatriations underline how governments can sometimes make exceptions in individual cases, particularly where age, health and legal circumstances are cited.
Legal campaigners and wider context
Jennifer Fleetwood, a criminologist from the University of London who worked on Sandiford’s appeal, welcomed the decision and emphasised the difficulties faced by foreign prisoners. “Foreign prisoners face enormous challenges – language barriers, inadequate healthcare. It is especially hard for elderly inmates with health problems,” she said. Sandiford’s case had drawn attention over more than a decade, coming in the wake of a period when Indonesia applied extremely harsh penalties for drug offences; in 2015 two Australian drug convicts were executed.
The end of a long odyssey
For Sandiford, the transfer marks a dramatic reversal in a case that drew sustained public interest and diplomatic engagement. Indonesian authorities and British officials now face the task of completing the logistics of the transfer and arranging medical and legal follow-up once the pair arrive in the UK.