Freed British Drug Mule Gran Faces Imprisonment in UK
The Foreign Office has declined to specify Sandiford's fate upon her arrival in the UK tomorrow. However, an Indonesian official stated:
“In England, she will remain in prison.”
Drug mule Lindsay Sandiford will return to British soil after spending more than ten years on death row, but she is expected to be immediately incarcerated. The 69-year-old pensioner was seen in a wheelchair as she tasted freedom for the first time in 13 years after being released from Bali's infamous Kerobokan prison.
Wearing a mask and shielding her face from photographers, she was swiftly taken to Denpasar International Airport and boarded a Qatar Airways flight this afternoon. Her freedom was secured with a £600 plane ticket funded by the UK, following a bilateral agreement between Keir Starmer and Indonesian authorities.
Sandiford, who is reported to be in very poor health, is undertaking a 20-hour journey back to the UK. This marks the conclusion of a distressing chapter in the legal secretary’s life after being sentenced to death for smuggling £1.6 million worth of cocaine into Indonesia.
The Foreign Office has not confirmed if Sandiford will be released or detained once back in the UK. Indonesia’s Deputy Minister for Immigration and Correctional Coordination, I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, said when asked about her fate upon return:
“In England, she will remain in prison.”
Sandiford left Kerobokan jail shortly after 2 pm GMT.
Summary: Lindsay Sandiford, freed from death row in Bali through UK intervention, faces imprisonment upon her return to the UK amid concerns about her health and legal status.