British gran on death row could be killed by firing squad on 'execution island' if sentence isn't overturned
A British grandmother who faces the death penalty for drug smuggling could be killed by a firing squad on Indonesia's 'execution island' if her sentence isn't overturned.
When travelling to Indonesia in 2013, Lindsay Sandiford was caught with a suitcase full of cocaine worth £1.6 million, and was subsequently sentenced to death for her crimes.
Although the 67-year-old has been behind bars in Kerobokan Prison, Bali, for over a decade, and a recent change to the law in Indonesia means she could actually avoid the firing squad, she will be taken to the 'Indonesian Alcatraz' if everything does go ahead.
The nickname for the notorious island comes from holding over 2,000 of the country’s worst offenders.
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But Indonesia's law change, which was introduced in January, could see her death sentence be changed into a life prison term as she has managed more than 10 years of good behaviour behind bars.
If this happens, Sandiford could avoid her doomed one-way trip to the 'Indonesian Alcatraz'.
The former legal secretary from North Yorkshire - who has been dubbed as 'the Queen of the prison' by cellmates - previously accepted her death, saying she doesn't 'want any fuss'.
"It won’t be a hard thing for me to face any more," she said when speaking to British journalists in 2019.
"It’s not particularly a death I would choose but then again I wouldn’t choose dying in agony from cancer either. I do feel I can cope with it.
"But when it happens I don’t want my family to come. I don’t want any fuss at all. The one thing certain about life is no one gets out alive."
If her death sentence is to go ahead, the convicted drug mule will reportedly spend her final hours in Nusa Kambangan, before she is taken from her Bali cell and flown on a five hour journey to Yogyakarta in the evening.
According to The Mirror, she will be sent deep into the woods with a blindfold and a white apron designed with a red target on her chest.
She will then be lined up and shot dead.
"Dying doesn’t bother me. I never thought I’d last this long to be honest," Sandiford added when speaking to journalists.
"What I am uncomfortable about is the public humiliation. You’re dragged halfway around the country and paraded in front of the press before being executed and that will be the worst thing for me.
"My attitude is, ‘If you want to shoot me, shoot me. Get on with it’.
"I’ve done a terrible thing, I know, but the worst thing is the ritual public humiliation they seem to enjoy."
A report by Dr. Jennifer Fleetwood, a lecturer in criminology at the University of Kent and expert on women in the international drugs trade, was previously presented to the court, suggesting Sandiford was an ideal target for drug traffickers.
She said: "There is evidence to suggest that a trafficker would seek someone who was vulnerable.
"Having reviewed extracts from Lindsay's medical records I know that Lindsay has a history of mental health issues.
"This may have unfortunately made her an attractive target for threats, manipulation and coercion."
Topics: Crime, UK News, World News
Anish Vij