British grandmother facing execution in Bali to be repatriated

A grandmother who was facing execution by firing squad is due to be repatriated to the UK.

Lindsay Sandiford was sentenced to death on the Indonesian island of Bali in January 2013 for drug trafficking after she was found with cocaine worth an estimated £1.6 million as she arrived.

The 69-year-old, who was originally from Redcar, Teeside, admitted the offences but claimed she was coerced by threats to her son’s life.

On Tuesday, an agreement was signed by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Indonesia’s Senior Minister of Law Yusril Ihza Mahendra, which means Sandiford, alongside fellow British national Shahab Shahabadi, 35, is set to be transferred to the UK.

Sandiford and Shahabadi could be returned to the UK in around two weeks – with both suffering severe health difficulties.

A death sentence was imposed on the grandmother despite prosecutors asking only for a 15-year jail term.

Shahabadi has been serving a life sentence since 2014 after being arrested during a probe into an international drug trafficking network.

Speaking after signing the agreement, Ms Cooper said: “Both of them are facing problems.

“The first one is ill and has been examined by a doctor from the British Consulate in Bali. She is seriously ill.”

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: “We are supporting two British nationals detained in Indonesia and are in close contact with the Indonesian authorities to discuss their return to the UK.”

Indonesia’s last executions were carried out in July 2016.