Home Australia British drug-smuggling grandmother Lindsay Sandiford, 67, could be killed by firing squad on Indonesia’s ‘execution island’ if sentence is not overturned

British drug-smuggling grandmother Lindsay Sandiford, 67, could be killed by firing squad on Indonesia’s ‘execution island’ if sentence is not overturned

by Elijah
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The 67-year-old was sentenced to death in 2013 after being convicted of attempting to smuggle cocaine worth £1.6million into Indonesia in his suitcase.

British drug dealer grandmother Lindsay Sandiford faces death by firing squad on Indonesia’s “execution island” after more than a decade on death row – if her conviction is not overturned.

The 67-year-old was sentenced to death in 2013 after being convicted of attempting to smuggle cocaine worth £1.6million into Indonesia in his suitcase.

Known as the queen of Kerobokan Prison, the facility where she has been behind bars for 12 years, Sandiford enjoyed steak dinners and led knitting circles with her fellow inmates during her time in prison, according to her cellmate .

But the treatment she can expect if she is taken to Nusa Kambangan – known as the “Indonesian Alcatraz” – is a far cry from the conditions she is used to.

Despite its picturesque white sand beaches and palm trees, the island is a notorious prison center, with its four active prisons housing 2,000 of the country’s most dangerous criminals, including drug traffickers and murderers.

The pensioner fears she will be “publicly humiliated” before her death and expects to be flown across the country to the island and paraded in front of the press before being executed by gunmen.

The 67-year-old was sentenced to death in 2013 after being convicted of attempting to smuggle cocaine worth £1.6million into Indonesia in his suitcase.

The 67-year-old was sentenced to death in 2013 after being convicted of attempting to smuggle cocaine worth £1.6million into Indonesia in his suitcase.

Prisoners are usually executed by firing squad. Pictured: Indonesian police at Nusakambangan prison as Indonesia prepares for drug-related executions in July 2016.

Prisoners are usually executed by firing squad. Pictured: Indonesian police at Nusakambangan prison as Indonesia prepares for drug-related executions in July 2016.

Prisoners are usually executed by firing squad. Pictured: Indonesian police at Nusakambangan prison as Indonesia prepares for drug-related executions in July 2016.

A view of Sodong Harbor on the island of Nusa Kambangan, the main gateway to Nusa Kambangan - known as the 'Indonesian Alcatraz'

A view of Sodong Harbor on the island of Nusa Kambangan, the main gateway to Nusa Kambangan - known as the 'Indonesian Alcatraz'

A view of Sodong Harbor on the island of Nusa Kambangan, the main gateway to Nusa Kambangan – known as the ‘Indonesian Alcatraz’

Sandiford may have to endure a long journey to Nusa Kambangan, being taken from her cell and flown to Yogyakarta before boarding a government ship bound for the island.

Sandiford may have to endure a long journey to Nusa Kambangan, being taken from her cell and flown to Yogyakarta before boarding a government ship bound for the island.

Sandiford may have to endure a long journey to Nusa Kambangan, being taken from her cell and flown to Yogyakarta before boarding a government ship bound for the island.

1710782497 682 British drug smuggling grandmother Lindsay Sandiford 67 could be killed by

1710782497 682 British drug smuggling grandmother Lindsay Sandiford 67 could be killed by

If her death sentence stands, Sandiford will have to endure a long journey to Nusa Kambangan, being taken from her cell and flown to Yogyakarta before boarding a government ship bound for the island.

Like the convicted drug traffickers before her, she was taken from her cell at midnight, her hands and feet chained, The mirror reports.

She would then be taken about two miles down a winding dirt road and driven through the woods to a “death zone,” known as Nirbaya.

The prisoners are then given a blindfold and are dressed in a white apron with a red target on the chest.

They are asked if they have any final requests before lining them up in front of a group of shooters.

The executioners aimed for the heart, but if the prisoner survives, he is then shot in the head.

Sandiford revealed that she was no longer afraid of death, but was more worried about the process that would lead her to face her fate.

“It won’t be a difficult thing for me to face anymore. “It’s not particularly a death I would choose, but then again, I wouldn’t choose to die in agony from cancer either,” she told the Mirror.

“I feel like I can handle it. But when that happens, I don’t want my family to come. I don’t want any noise at all. The only certain thing in life is that no one gets out alive.

She continues: “Dying doesn’t bother me. I never thought I would last this long to be honest. What makes me uncomfortable is public humiliation. You are being dragged across 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.’ Continue. I did something terrible, I know, but the worst part is the ritualistic public humiliation they seem to enjoy.

A glimmer of hope has emerged for Sandiford after it recently emerged his sentence could be converted to a life sentence due to a law change to be introduced in January.

Lindsay Sandiford has been jailed since 2013 for trying to smuggle £1.6 million worth of cocaine.

Lindsay Sandiford has been jailed since 2013 for trying to smuggle £1.6 million worth of cocaine.

Lindsay Sandiford has been jailed since 2013 for trying to smuggle £1.6 million worth of cocaine.

Sandiford met one of his granddaughters (pictured) while she was in prison, awaiting her fate

Sandiford met one of his granddaughters (pictured) while she was in prison, awaiting her fate

Sandiford met one of his granddaughters (pictured) while she was in prison, awaiting her fate

Sandiford (pictured with her eldest son) will be transferred to Nusa Kambangan, known as Execution Island, and shot by firing squad at midnight along with up to a dozen other condemned prisoners when and if her sentence of death will be executed.

Sandiford (pictured with her eldest son) will be transferred to Nusa Kambangan, known as Execution Island, and shot by firing squad at midnight along with up to a dozen other condemned prisoners when and if her sentence of death will be executed.

Sandiford (pictured) told her sons not to come to her execution because she wouldn't meet them

Sandiford (pictured) told her sons not to come to her execution because she wouldn't meet them

Sandiford (pictured left with her eldest son and right as a youth) will be transferred to Nusa Kambangan – known as Execution Island – and shot by firing squad.

This is due to his good behavior behind bars for over ten years.

Lawyers could argue for her to be returned to the UK, where she could be released due to time already served.

An inmate at Sandiford Prison told the Mirror: “If she makes it to 2025, she thinks she might be able to avoid the death penalty.”

Human rights lawyer Dr Felicity Gerry KC called for the grandmother to be returned to Britain.

“The death penalty, especially for women involved in drug trafficking, should be abolished,” the lawyer who visited Sandiford in 2015 told the Mirror.

“The (UK) government should take active steps to facilitate Lindsay’s return to the UK, either to serve a sentence near her family or to consider her release.”

The grandmother of two is locked up in one of Indonesia’s harshest prisons and the site of many deadly riots, known ironically as Hotel K.

The drug mule was caught arriving in Bali from Bangkok with 10.16 pounds of cocaine in 2012.

The Briton, from Yorkshire, who has no previous convictions, claimed she was forced by a UK-based drug syndicate to smuggle cocaine from Thailand to Bali by threatening the life of the one of his two sons in Great Britain.

She was sentenced to death despite cooperating with police to arrest senior figures in the union, provoking outcry from human rights lawyers and the union’s former director of public prosecutions. UK’s Ken Macdonald, who said she had been treated with “utterly extraordinary severity”.

She will be transferred to Nusa Kambangan – known as Execution Island – and shot by firing squad at midnight along with up to a dozen other condemned prisoners when and if her death sentence is carried out.

A general view shows Kerobokan Prison in Denpasar on the Indonesian island of Bali

A general view shows Kerobokan Prison in Denpasar on the Indonesian island of Bali

A general view shows Kerobokan Prison in Denpasar on the Indonesian island of Bali

The entrance gate to Nusakambangan prison (photo from 2016)

The entrance gate to Nusakambangan prison (photo from 2016)

The entrance gate to Nusakambangan prison (photo from 2016)

The British government has repeatedly refused to fund Sandiford’s appeal, despite a ruling by judges at the Supreme Court in London who said “substantial mitigating factors” had been overlooked during his original trial.

The syndicate’s alleged leader, Julian Ponder, 50, from Brighton, was released from Kerobokan Prison in late 2017 following rumors that more than £1 million in bribes had been paid for dropping trafficking charges against Ponder, his former partner Rachel Dougall and fellow Briton Paul Beales.

Dougall served one year and Beales four years for involvement in the conspiracy.

Smugglers face heavy penalties in the country, as around 80 percent of the prison population is incarcerated for drug trafficking and awaiting execution.

But the last execution in the country took place in July 2016, when three Nigerians and an Indonesian were shot dead for drug offenses.

Sandiford was allegedly friends with Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were executed for their roles in the Bali Nine trafficking gang in 2015.

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