Revealed: Indonesia’s bid to return drugs mule gran Lindsay Sandiford to the UK in exchange for monster who raped 136 men
British diplomats were stunned when Indonesia demanded the extradition of Britain’s top serial rapist in exchange for a grandmother who spent 13 years on death row.
Just days after drug mule Lindsay Sandiford, 69, was released in Bali, Indonesia suddenly tried to link her return with the extradition to the UK of Reynhard Sinaga, who raped 136 teenagers in Manchester.
Sandiford’s freedom was delayed for eight months before he flew to England last weekend.
Britain insisted on his unconditional release and rejected a deal that would have seen Sinaga fly home and potentially be freed five years after he was sentenced.
Sinaga, 42, whose father is a wealthy real estate agent and former banker, was sentenced to at least 40 years in prison for 159 sexual offenses, including 136 rapes of young boys, between 2015 and 2017.
The man, a family-funded PhD student, preyed on young men leaving clubs, lured them to his flat in Manchester city centre, then drugged and raped them, filming the attacks on his phone.
He was caught when an 18-year-old rugby player he had drugged regained consciousness and fought with him. Police found numerous videos of assaults, mostly on heterosexual men, who only realized they were victims when officers contacted them.
The request for Sinaga’s release was made in March as British authorities in Indonesia prepared to repatriate Sandiford, who was sentenced to death in 2012 for smuggling £1.6 million of cocaine, as part of an amnesty for vulnerable foreign prisoners.
Just days after drug smuggler Lindsay Sandiford (pictured), 69, was released from Bali, Indonesia suddenly tried to link his return to the repatriation to the UK of Reynhard Sinaga, who raped 136 teenagers in Manchester.
Lindsay Sandiford returns to Heathrow airport on Friday, November 7
Reynhard Sinaga, 42, whose father was a wealthy real estate agent and former banker, was sentenced to at least 40 years in prison for 159 sexual offenses, including 136 rapes of young boys, between 2015 and 2017.
When Sandiford was told he was days away from leaving the notorious Kerobokan prison, Sandiford said the request left diplomats ‘confused’.
He said: ‘I had given all my belongings to my fellow prisoners and they even told me which plane to board. “Then when they went to sign the papers for me to go home, the Indonesians said, ‘No, no, we don’t want to let him go home. “We want a prisoner exchange,” they said.
‘Britain flatly rejected the request. Sandiford, who was visited by consular officials and briefed on the negotiations, described the delay in his release as “torture” but said he understood that prisoner exchange was impossible.
He said: ‘Sinaga will never go out. ‘People in Britain would be horrified if they let him go.’
His family lobbied government officials to have their son sent back to Indonesia to complete his so-called sentence.
Senior Indonesian minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said in February that he wanted Sinaga back but never publicly linked the case to Sandiford.
Following his arrest, Sandiford co-operated with police and took part in an operation that led to the arrest of three Britons suspected of being high up in the drug syndicate.
Three other Britons – Julian Ponder, Paul Beales and Rachel Dougall – were sentenced to between one and six years in prison, while Sandiford was given the death penalty despite the prosecutor only requesting a 15-year sentence.
Sandiford, who suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure and has difficulty walking after years in a cramped cell, flew back to be reunited with her son and grandchildren in a London hotel room paid for by a prisoner charity.
