A British woman who has been on death row in Indonesia for drug smuggling and another Briton serving a life sentence for drug trafficking will be repatriated to the UK under a bilateral agreement, officials said on Tuesday.
Lindsay Sandiford, 68, was arrested at Bali’s airport in 2012 after authorities found 3.8kg of cocaine worth $2.5m hidden in the lining of her suitcase. She was sentenced to death by firing squad, a ruling upheld by Indonesia’s highest court in 2013.
Shahab Shahabadi, 35, has been serving a life sentence since 2014 after being arrested in Jakarta for his involvement in an international drug trafficking network. Prosecutors said he had sent 30kg of methamphetamine powder from Iran to his partner for distribution in Jakarta.
Indonesia’s Minister of Law and Human Rights, Yusril Mahendra, signed a repatriation agreement with UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. Mahendra noted that Sandiford is seriously ill and has been examined by a doctor from the British consulate in Bali. The transfer will take place after both countries complete technical and administrative procedures.
Indonesia, under President Prabowo Subianto, has recently repatriated several foreign prisoners, including a Filipina on death row and five Australians convicted of heroin trafficking. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Indonesia is a major drug smuggling hub despite having some of the world’s strictest drug laws.
Data from the ministry of immigration and corrections shows about 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including nearly 100 foreigners. The last executions were carried out in July 2016, when a citizen and three foreigners were put to death.
