Briton, 56, loses fight over Bali death sentence

A BRITISH grandmother has lost her appeal against a death sentence for trafficking drugs into the resort island of Bali, it was confirmed today.
Lindsay SandifordLindsay Sandiford
Lindsay Sandiford

A three-judge panel at the Supreme Court in Jakarta unanimously rejected Lindsay Sandiford’s appeal, spokesman Ridwan Mansur said.

The judges agreed with the decision taken by Bali’s Denpasar district court, which sentenced Sandiford to death, and the island’s high court, which rejected her first appeal.

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A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: “We are aware that Lindsay Sandiford’s appeal to the Indonesian Supreme Court has been denied.

Lindsay SandifordLindsay Sandiford
Lindsay Sandiford

“In line with our strong opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances, we will consider how to support any application for Judicial Review or clemency that Lindsay Sandiford chooses to make.

“We will continue to provide consular assistance to Lindsay Sandiford and her family at this difficult time.”

Sandiford, 56, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was sentenced to death by firing squad after being found with cocaine worth an estimated £1.6m as she arrived on the Indonesian island on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand, in May last year.

She was sentenced in January.

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Balinese police claim Sandiford was at the centre of a drugs-importing ring involving three other Britons.

She denies the allegations, claiming she was forced to transport the drugs to protect her children, whose safety was at stake.

Sandiford, originally from Redcar, Teesside, was arrested at Bali’s airport after 10.6lb (4.8kg) of cocaine was found in the lining of her suitcase during a routine customs check.

She was later accused of damaging the image of Bali and received the death sentence following her trial.

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Sandiford is being held in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan Jail, which has around 1,000 prisoners, male and female.

The penalty was imposed despite prosecutors asking only for a 15-year jail term.

Under Indonesian law, Sandiford still has the opportunity to seek a judicial review of her case before appealing for a presidential pardon.

The legal charity Reprieve and Amnesty International have condemned the death sentence on the former legal secretary.

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Yesterday Zoe Bedford, a lawyer with Reprieve, said the decision was “deeply disappointing”.

“It is clear that Lindsay was merely a vulnerable mule, exploited by those further up in the chain who have avoided serious punishment,” she said.

She urged the UK government to “step in” and ensure that Sandiford was given legal advice to help find new evidence that would enable her to launch a judicial review.

Tim Hancock, campaigns director of Amnesty International UK said judges gave Sandiford a death sentence despite the fact that the prosecution were not even asking for it.

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Mr Hancock said she was the second British citizen sentenced to death for drug offences in the recent months – “an extremely worrying trend.”

Martin Horwood, MP for Cheltenham, has expressed his shock at the sentence, saying: “The days of the death penalty ought to be past. This is not the way that a country that now values democracy and human rights should really be behaving.”

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