Two British drug convicts, including death row prisoner Lindsay Sandiford, were repatriated from Indonesia to the UK on Friday under a bilateral agreement on humanitarian grounds. Sandiford, 69, was sentenced to death in Bali in 2013 for trafficking cocaine worth an estimated $2.14 million, which was found hidden in her suitcase upon arrival in 2012. She admitted the offence but claimed she acted under duress after a drug syndicate threatened her son.
The second prisoner, Shahab Shahabadi, 36, was serving a life sentence for drug offences after his arrest in 2014. Both left Bali on a Qatar Airways flight to London via Doha, confirmed an official from Indonesia's law and human rights ministry. They were presented in a handover ceremony at Kerobokan jail a day earlier, with Sandiford covering her face.
Indonesia's senior law and human rights minister, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, signed the transfer deal with British foreign minister Yvette Cooper last month. Yusril stated that Sandiford was “seriously ill”, while Shahabadi was “suffering from various serious illnesses, including mental health issues”. Matthew Downing, Britain’s deputy ambassador to Indonesia, said the repatriation was on “humanitarian grounds” and that upon arrival in the UK, the priority would be their health, including assessments and treatment.
Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drug laws but has released several high-profile detainees in the past year. As of August, nearly 600 inmates were on death row in Indonesia, including around 90 foreigners. The last executions were carried out in 2016. President Prabowo Subianto’s administration has repatriated several prisoners since taking office in 2024, including the last five members of the “Bali Nine” drug ring.
