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| Lindsay Sandiford: Bali court upholds death sentence for smuggling cocaine | Lindsay Sandiford: Bali court upholds death sentence for smuggling cocaine |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A British woman convicted of smuggling £1.6m of cocaine into Bali will be put to death, an Indonesian court has said, despite appeals for her life to be saved. | |
| The Bali high court spokesman announced on Monday that it had upheld the death sentence, rejecting an appeal from Lindsay June Sandiford, 56. | |
| She was arrested for drug trafficking in May after local police said they found almost 4kg of cocaine in the lining of her suitcase. In January she was sentenced to face a firing squad by a district court. | |
| The spokesman said the verdict was decided last week and Sandiford had 14 days to appeal to the national supreme court. | |
| If the appeal fails, Sandiford could ask the president for clemency. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has granted clemency to four drug offenders on death row since taking office in 2004. | |
| Three other Britons were alleged to be involved in the same plot to smuggle drugs into Bali. Julian Ponder, 43, was jailed for six years in January and fined the equivalent of £65,000 after being convicted of cocaine possession in Bali. | Three other Britons were alleged to be involved in the same plot to smuggle drugs into Bali. Julian Ponder, 43, was jailed for six years in January and fined the equivalent of £65,000 after being convicted of cocaine possession in Bali. |
| His lawyers said he was told Sandiford was delivering a present for his child's birthday and, when he met her to receive the gift, police officers arrested him. His partner, Rachel Dougall, 38, from Brighton, received a one-year jail sentence in the Denpasar district court last month. She had been in jail for eight months awaiting trial and could be reunited with her daughter this month. | |
| The property developer Paul Beales, a long-time Bali resident, was also spared a harsh sentence when judges gave him four years for possession of a small amount of hashish. | |
| The UK government said it was disappointed that Sandiford had lost her appeal. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office reiterated the UK's opposition to the death penalty. "We are disappointed to hear that Lindsay Sandiford's appeal has been refused by the high court in Bali," said the spokesperson. "The UK strongly opposes the death penalty and has repeatedly made representations to the Indonesian government on this matter. We will continue to provide consular assistance at this difficult time." | |
| There were gasps of surprise in Denpasar district court when Sandiford's sentence was handed down in January. The prosecution had sought a 15-year prison term, not the death penalty, but the judge ruled that Sandiford's attempted crime had damaged Bali's image. | |
| In her witness statement during her trial, Sandiford expressed regret for her actions. "I would like to begin by apologising to the Republic of Indonesia and the Indonesian people for my involvement. I would never have become involved in something like this but the lives of my children were in danger and I felt I had to protect them," she said. | In her witness statement during her trial, Sandiford expressed regret for her actions. "I would like to begin by apologising to the Republic of Indonesia and the Indonesian people for my involvement. I would never have become involved in something like this but the lives of my children were in danger and I felt I had to protect them," she said. |
| During the trial, her lawyer read out a statement from her son that said: "I love my mother very much and have a very close relationship with her. I know that she would do anything to protect me. I cannot imagine what I would do if she was sentenced to death in relation to these charges." | During the trial, her lawyer read out a statement from her son that said: "I love my mother very much and have a very close relationship with her. I know that she would do anything to protect me. I cannot imagine what I would do if she was sentenced to death in relation to these charges." |
| Indonesia has one of the strictest drug policies in the world, with about 40 foreigners on death row convicted of drug crimes, according to a March 2012 report by Australia's Lowy Institute for International Policy. | Indonesia has one of the strictest drug policies in the world, with about 40 foreigners on death row convicted of drug crimes, according to a March 2012 report by Australia's Lowy Institute for International Policy. |
| Five foreigners have been executed since 1998, all for drug crimes, according to the institute. In 2008, 10 people were put to death. | |
| On 14 March the Nigerian national Adami Wilson was executed for trafficking a kilogram of heroin in 2004 in Tangerang, south-western Banten province. | |
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