British woman facing execution in Bali for drug smuggling to be repatriated | Indonesia
A British woman will avoid execution for drug trafficking in Indonesia under a deal signed between the two countries to repatriate another Briton sentenced to life imprisonment.
Lindsay Sandiford, 68, has been imprisoned in Bali since 2012. He was arrested at the resort island’s airport after authorities found 3.8 kg of cocaine worth $2.5 million hidden in the lining of his suitcase. During the trial he said he was forced to carry the drugs by a gang who threatened his children.
He was sentenced to death by firing squad and Indonesia’s highest court upheld the verdict in 2013.
Another prisoner, 35-year-old Shahab Shahabadi, has been serving a life sentence since 2014. He was arrested in Jakarta as a result of an investigation into an international drug trafficking ring. Prosecutors said he had previously sent 30 kg of methamphetamine powder in several shipments from Iran for distribution to his partner in Jakarta, eventually arriving in Jakarta.
“They are both facing problems. The former is ill and was examined by a doctor from the British Consulate in Bali. He is seriously ill and is 68 years old,” said Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. He signed the repatriation agreement with Indonesia’s senior law minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra on Tuesday.
Mahendra said the transfer of prisoners will take place after both countries complete the technical and administrative steps.
Indonesia, under the rule of President Prabowo Subianto, has repatriated large numbers of foreign prisoners under bilateral agreements with each of its countries. These included a Filipino sentenced to death for drugs and five Australians convicted of heroin trafficking.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug trafficking hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, as international drug syndicates target its youth population.
About 530 people have been sentenced to death in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including about 100 foreigners, according to data from the Immigration and Penitentiary Service last month. The last executions in Indonesia, in which a citizen and three foreigners were executed, were carried out in July 2016.
