US basketball player who faced death penalty could still die in prison without treatment

A basketball player who narrowly escaped the death penalty in Indonesia has spoken out as he desperately seeks deportation back to the US.

Jarred Shaw was arrested last year after police found him to be in possession of $400 worth of cannabis gummies, something he uses to ease his ongoing health problems.

The 35-year-old suffers from Crohn's disease, an incurable chronic illness which causes inflammation in the digestive tract and bowels, causing painful cramping, abdominal pain and fatigue.

Shaw was playing for Prawira Bandung, the 2023 Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) winners, but had his contract cancelled immediately after his arrest, with fears that he could face the death penalty due to previous cases in the Asian country.

Speaking to LADbible from jail, Shaw said: “I went through the whole trial process still facing the death penalty. I was preaching to everyone about my Crohn’s disease but a lot of people didn’t understand what it was.

"People were getting misconstrued and nobody was really taking it seriously. I was facing the death penalty and changing lawyers, but nobody could tell me what is really going on. I’m still telling them, ‘I’m not good, I’m sick, my stomach is bothering me, I have Crohn’s. They just said they didn’t understand. I get to the middle of my trial and I was telling my lawyer that this is a self-medication to deal with the pain of Crohn’s.”

Jarred's Crohn's has been untreated during his time behind bars (Court Shutter)

Thankfully, the introduction of a new lawyer proved to be a big shift in Shaw’s case, as he secured a visit to a doctor, who was able to confirm his Crohn’s disease diagnosis.

He added: “I was the first prisoner to go and see a doctor during the trial. They diagnosed me with the Crohn’s disease. They did request that I receive more treatment because I have three active infections. That influenced my trial and I ended up getting 26 months.”

While Shaw was delighted to learn that he wouldn’t face the death penalty, as others have done amid Indonesia’s notoriously strict drug laws, he now is stuck with the prospect of spending much of the next two years behind bars without access to medication.

He continued: “My main concern now is just getting to the doctor as soon as I can. I need to get back to America, to Texas, to see my doctor. The most important thing is my health right now. It’s great that I beat the death penalty but it’s not over yet for me. The doctors here can’t really treat me. There’s no medicine that can cure it. Right now we’re trying to raise awareness so I can get back to America.”

He is hoping to raise awareness and get deported back to the US (Court Shutter)

Jarred and Donte West, who is handling his case, are now encouraging people to reach out to US Secretary of State Marc Rubio and US Ambassador of Indonesia Peter Haymond and demand they intervene with his ongoing situation, with the basketball pro at serious risk of irreversible harm or even death should he remain without medication.

Patients with Crohn's or Colitis are already at an increased risk of contracting colorectal cancer than the average person, particularly when it is untreated or poorly managed.

Sadly, the poor conditions in jail, where the 6-foot-11 athlete shares a cell with several other men, are also making things worse for Shaw’s stomach problems, with the lack of nutrients in his food only serving to make the inflammation worse.

Shaw concluded: “The conditions are not good, this is prison in a third-world country. I made a mistake, but at the end of the day, I feel like my health is more important than the mistake I made.”