A 69-year-old British woman who had been on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking was flown home early Friday after the two countries reached a humanitarian repatriation agreement.
Lindsay Sandiford, sentenced to death in 2013 for smuggling 4.8 kilograms (10.6 pounds) of cocaine worth over $2 million into Bali from Bangkok, left Indonesia on a flight to London around 12:30 a.m., officials said.
She was accompanied by another British national, Shahab Shahabadi, who had been serving a life sentence for separate drug offences.
The repatriation followed months of discussions between Jakarta and London.
Indonesian Minister for Legal Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra announced last month that both nations had agreed to return Sandiford on humanitarian grounds due to her age and deteriorating health, with the understanding that she would serve out her sentence in the United Kingdom.
At a press conference held hours before the flight at Bali’s Kerobokan prison, Britain’s Deputy Ambassador Matthew Downing confirmed Sandiford’s transfer, saying she would be “governed by the law and procedures of the UK,” though he declined to comment on potential legal proceedings.
Sandiford, who appeared in a wheelchair and kept her face covered, did not speak.
Downing added that the repatriation agreement is reciprocal, allowing Indonesia to request the return of its nationals imprisoned in Britain, although no such requests have been made to date.
In the past year, Indonesia has released or repatriated several foreign nationals previously sentenced to death, including five Australians, a French man, and a Filipino woman, as part of broader humanitarian and diplomatic arrangements.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
