British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford leaves Indonesia death row to return home

British Grandmother Lindsay Sandiford Leaves Indonesia Death Row

[translate:Sandiford] was sentenced to death on Bali in 2013 after she was convicted of trafficking drugs.

[translate:Lindsay Sandiford, 69,] received the death sentence on the tourist island of Bali in 2013 following a drug trafficking conviction. She will be repatriated alongside Shahab Shahabadi, 36, who was serving a life term for drug-related offences since 2014.

Two British drug convicts, including a grandmother on death row, left a Bali jail on November 6, as part of an agreement to send them home, an Indonesian ministry official informed AFP.

Indonesia enforces some of the strictest drug laws globally but has recently released over half a dozen prominent detainees, including a Filipina mother sentenced to death.

Details of Arrest and Conviction

Sandiford was caught after Customs officers discovered cocaine worth approximately US$2.14 million hidden in a false compartment in her suitcase upon her arrival in Bali in 2012.

[translate:Sandiford admitted the offences but said she had agreed to carry the narcotics after a drug syndicate threatened to kill her son.]

Following their release from prison, the two convicts were escorted to the airport, according to I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, an official from Indonesia's Law and Human Rights Ministry.

Context of Drug Law Enforcement

Indonesia applies extremely harsh punishments for drug offences.
This year, several high-profile drug convicts have been freed.
The government continues efforts to repatriate foreign prisoners.

Summary: Lindsay Sandiford, sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Indonesia, was repatriated in 2025 amid a recent trend of releasing foreign drug convicts under strict drug law policies.

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The Straits Times — 2025-11-06