Chilling final wish of British grandmother who has spent 11 years awaiting execution on death row in Indonesian prison
This British grandma waiting on death row in Indonesia has a chilling final wish.
Lindsay Sandiford has spent an excruciating 11 years behind bars on charges of smuggling £1.6 million of cocaine into Bali from Bangkok.
The 68-year-old was found guilty back in 2012 and was set to be executed by firing squad.
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The execution was set to be carried out within months of the verdict, but a decade has passed and Sandiford still remains behind bars.
This is because executions aren't regularly carried out in Indonesia. And given that the last one took place in 2016, Sandiford could be waiting a long while yet.
While awaiting her grim fate, the Essex gran spends most of her time knitting items in her cell. She sells these in a bid to raise legal funds.
One inmate has spoken of Sandiford's final wish.
Heather Mack, who was serving 10 years for murdering her mother, got to know Sandiford. Mack claims that she was withdrawn and struggling with prison life.
The American killer said: "She spends all day pretty much alone in her cell and doesn't mix so much with the other prisoners."
According to her, Sandiford has one wish: "She has said she wants to die."
The grandmother apparently said: "It won't be a hard thing for me to face anymore.
"It's not particularly a death I would choose but then again I wouldn't choose dying in agony from cancer either."
As it currently stands, Sandiford is residing in Kerobokan prison, which was built in 1979 to hold 320 prisoners. In 2017, almost 1,300 people were living there, leading to a new facility being built the following year. Despite this, the issue of overcrowding persists.
At the time of her trial, Sandiford claimed that she had been forced into carrying the drugs by a gang who threatened to hurt her family. Her lawyers put forward the case that she was suffering from mental health problems.
Speaking to the court during her trial, the grandmother expressed her regret.
She said: "I would like to begin by apologising to the Republic of Indonesia and the Indonesian people for my involvement.
"I would never have become involved in something like this but the lives of my children were in danger and I felt I had to protect them."
Drug trafficking offences are covered in Indonesia's Narcotics Act. Article 111 stipulates that a minimum of four to twelve years in jail should follow such an offence.
Ben Thompson