Huge twist in case of Brit grandmother on death row waiting to be executed in Bali
A British grandma who has spent the last 12 years on death row in Indonesia is set to finally return to the UK.
Lindsay Sandiford was arrested back in May 2012 after being found with roughly 11lb of cocaine in the lining of her suitcase, said to be worth £1.6 million.
Despite claiming that she was forced to smuggle the drugs by a criminal gang, as they allegedly threatened to kill her son, in January 2013 she was found guilty and handed a death sentence, remaining on death row ever since.
Lindsay, who is now 69, had been nicknamed 'grandmother' by fellow inmates at the Kerobokan Prison in Bali and while she was reportedly losing hope of getting her freedom back, she is now set to return home to her family, having been able to hug her grandkids for the first time in a decade when they visited the Southeast Asian country earlier this year.
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Indonesia is known for its strict laws when it comes to drugs, with a US basketball star also facing the death penalty there after he was discovered with cannabis gummies thought to be worth just $400.
But in Lindsay's case, the drugs found in her possession were worth significantly more, and she has been threatened with the firing squad for over a decade.
In 2015, it seemed as if her time in prison was nearing an end, as she penned a heartbreaking statement in the Mail on Sunday.
She wrote: "My execution is imminent, and I know I might die at any time now. I could be taken tomorrow from my cell.
"I have started to write goodbye letters to members of my family."
Although a change in Indonesia's laws did give her hope that she would be released earlier this summer, in the end it was an agreement between the two governments which saw her repatriated.
An Indonesian government source said today: “The practical arrangement will be signed today.
“The transfer will be done immediately after the technical side of the transfer is agreed.”
After a recent law change, President Prabowo Subianto’s administration has started to repatriate many criminals sentenced to life over drug offences over the past 10 months, with the UK continuing to oppose the death penalty in any circumstances.
Lindsay, from Redcar, reportedly spent much of her time behind bars knitting clothes and toys for her grandchildren, charities, and church groups, but now she will be free to enjoy her textiles in the freedom of her own home.
She is being released alongside British citizen Shahab Shahabadi.
James Moorhouse