JAKARTA: A British grandmother sentenced to death for trafficking drugs worth $2.4m into the resort island of Bali moved a step nearer the firing squad yesterday after Indonesia’s top court rejected her appeal.
Lindsay Sandiford now only has two more chances to avoid execution, a judicial review of the top court’s decision or a presidential pardon. Death row convicts in Indonesia rarely have their sentences reduced.
The 57-year-old was sentenced to death in January after a large stash of cocaine was found in her suitcase as she arrived on a flight from Bangkok in May last year . Prosecutors had recommended 15 years’ imprisonment.
Police said she was at the centre of a drugs-importing ring involving three other Britons. Sandiford said she was forced to transport the drugs to protect her children whose safety was at stake.
At a closed hearing at the Supreme Court in Jakarta yesterday, a three-judge panel rejected Sandiford’s appeal, said the panel’s chief judge Artidjo Alkostar.
“Her appeal has been rejected,” he said in a text message after the closed hearing. “The decision is unanimous.”
He said the judges agreed with the decision taken by the Denpasar district court in Bali, which sentenced her to death, and the island’s high court, which rejected her first appeal.
Most people sentenced to death for drugs offences fail to have their sentences reduced on appeal. They face a long wait in jail before being taken to a remote, undisclosed location at night and executed by firing squad.
Britain has previously raised concerns about Sandiford’s treatment in the island’s notorious Kerobokan jail, alleging in papers submitted to Denpasar district court that officials threatened her with a gun and deprived her of sleep.
When they handed down the death sentence, the Bali court rejected arguments she was transporting the 4.79 kilos (10.6 pounds) of cocaine to protect her children.
It noted she had not admitted her crime and ruled she had damaged Indonesia’s hardline stance on drugs as well as Bali’s reputation as a tourism destination.
Three other Britons arrested in connection with the case received lighter sentences.
Two members of the “Bali Nine” who were arrested in 2005 are currently on death row, while the seven others face lengthy jail terms. A Frenchman has also been on death row since May 2007 for drug trafficking.
AFP
