A 65-year-old woman is awaiting her execution in Bali after she was caught smuggling $1.6 million worth of drugs in 2013.
Lindsay Sandiford, a former legal secretary from the United Kingdom, was sentenced to death by a court in Indonesia after she was arrested with a suitcase full of cocaine in 2013. For the last nine years, Sandiford has been fighting to overturn her death sentence, arguing that she was forced to smuggle the drugs by a gang.
Lindsay Sandiford pictured
In court documents, Sandiford alleges that a gang pressured her to carry the drugs and made threats against her children if she did not comply. Her children have also corroborated her story, saying that she was forced to smuggle the drugs over a rent dispute. Sandiford has run out of money to pay her legal team. In a last-ditch effort, she pleaded with the court to drop her death penalty charge, saying, “I would like to begin by apologizing 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.”
Sandiford’s lawyers add that she is suffering from mental health problems. Hugo Swire, Minister of State for the foreign office of affairs, issued a statement saying, “We are aware that Lindsay Sandiford is facing the death penalty in Indonesia. We strongly object to the death penalty and continue to provide consular assistance to Lindsay and her family during this difficult time.”
Sandiford latest appeal is expected to be thrown out, her execution could be scheduled as early as Friday. In Indonesia, those sentenced to death by firing squad are placed in a field and then shot. If the inmate survives, guards are instructed to shoot the inmate in the head per government protocol.