Lindsay Sandiford, who spent 12 years on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking, may face imprisonment upon her return to the UK, according to Indonesian authorities.
The 69-year-old was seen being wheeled out of Kerobokan Prison in Bali, where she had been incarcerated for attempting to smuggle cocaine valued at £1.6 million from Bangkok.
When questioned about Sandiford’s potential future in the UK, Indonesia’s Deputy Minister for Immigration and Correctional Coordination, I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, told the Mirror, “In England, she will remain in prison.”
The UK’s Foreign Office has not yet confirmed or disputed the statement made by the Indonesian official.
Sandiford was released alongside fellow British inmate, 35-year-old Shahab Shahabadi, who was serving a life sentence for drug-related charges. Their release took place shortly after 2 p.m. GMT.
Both individuals were briefly presented to local media before being transferred to British diplomats at the airport for their journey back to the United Kingdom.
Wearing a face mask and shielding herself from photographers, she was taken to Denpasar International Airport, where she boarded a Qatar Airways flight bound for London via Doha.
It was at the same airport in 2012 that Sandiford was publicly paraded in orange prison clothes beside a table stacked with cocaine.
Lindsay Sandiford was seen at a handing over ceremony at the prison where she was held following her release yesterday
Indonesian officials have said she is expected to be back in prison once in Britain
Sandiford in her prison cell where she is said to have taught other prisoners how to knit
The UK government funded her £600 plane ticket after Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper reached a repatriation deal with Indonesian officials.
The agreement, signed on October 21 by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, secured her release on humanitarian grounds due to her failing health.
The former legal secretary from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, is said to be severely ill and requires urgent medical treatment.
According to Indonesian officials, she is suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure. It was also reported that she has arthritis.
Sources in Jakarta said the prime minister and home secretary personally appealed for Sandiford’s release.
Foreign Office staff had been working on the case for more than 18 months, regularly visiting her as her condition worsened.
Sandiford was sentenced to death in 2013 after being convicted of trafficking 4.8kg of cocaine. Her lawyers had asked for a 15-year jail sentence and repeatedly launched appeals.
She initially claimed she had been forced into the operation by a British gang that threatened to harm her family.
She later admitted that she had agreed to carry the drugs for a British antiques dealer.
Her lawyers argued she had been coerced and was suffering from mental health problems at the time. They also said she acted under threats that her son would be killed if she refused.
During her years inside Kerobokan Prison, Sandiford endured brutal conditions of overcrowding, poor sanitation and extreme humidity.
Despite this, she was known to run knitting classes for fellow inmates and made clothes for her grandchildren back home.
Sandiford was wheeled out of prison. Officials say she is severely ill and needs urgent medical treatment
In 2013, she was sentenced to death and spent 12 years languishing on death row under harsh prison conditions
In 2012, she was caught with £1.6million worth of drugs. Officials said she smuggled the narcotics in from Bangkok
Her case attracted major public attention in the UK. Writing from her cell for the Mail on Sunday, Sandiford described how she had begun preparing for death, saying she had written farewell letters to her family and planned to sing Perry Como’s Magic Moments if she faced a firing squad.
Speaking about the method of death, she said: ‘It won’t be a hard thing for me to face anymore. It’s not particularly a death I would choose but then again I wouldn’t choose dying in agony from cancer either.
‘I do feel I can cope with it. But when it happens I don’t want my family to come. I don’t want any fuss at all. The one thing certain about life is no one gets out alive.’
Friends said the years of uncertainty pushed her into depression as she waited to learn when her execution would be carried out.
Indonesia’s firing squad typically consists of twelve soldiers who shoot a convicted prisoner, aiming for the heart. While three fire live bullets, the rest shoot blanks.
The last execution by firing squad was carried out in 2015, when eight people were killed.
