Indonesia signed a landmark prisoner transfer agreement on Tuesday that will see two British nationals repatriated, including a seriously ill grandmother who has spent more than a decade on death row for drug trafficking charges.
Lindsay Sandiford, in her late 60s, and Shahab Shahabadi, 35, will be transferred to the United Kingdom within approximately two weeks following the signing of the agreement between Indonesian Senior Law and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra and British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper.
Sandiford was sentenced to death in 2013 after customs officers discovered cocaine worth an estimated $2.14 million (about R41 million) hidden in a false bottom of her suitcase when she arrived in Bali from Thailand in 2012. The grandmother from Redcar, northeast England, admitted to the charges but claimed she had been coerced by a drug syndicate that threatened to kill her son.
Her appeal against the death sentence was rejected in 2013, and she has remained in Indonesia’s notorious prison system ever since.
Shahabadi, meanwhile, is serving a life sentence for drug offenses following his 2014 arrest.
Both prisoners are reportedly suffering from severe health problems, which appears to have expedited the transfer process.
“Sandiford has been examined by our doctor, as well as by the doctor from the British consulate in Bali, and is seriously ill,” Minister Yusril told reporters at a Jakarta press conference. He described Shahabadi as “suffering from various serious illnesses, including mental health issues.”
The transfer represents the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner repatriations under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, which took office in October 2024. Indonesia, despite maintaining some of the world’s strictest drug laws, has moved to release several foreign nationals in recent months.
In December 2024, Filipina death row inmate Mary Jane Veloso was repatriated after nearly 15 years of imprisonment. French national Serge Atlaoui, 61, was returned home in February after 18 years on death row. The country also released the final five members of the infamous “Bali Nine” drug smuggling ring.
Sandiford’s case garnered significant media attention in Britain, particularly after she penned a haunting article for the Mail on Sunday in 2015 describing her fear of imminent execution.
“My execution is imminent, and I know I might die at any time now. I could be taken tomorrow from my cell,” she wrote. “I have started to write goodbye letters to members of my family.”
In the same article, she revealed she had planned to sing Perry Como’s “Magic Moments” when facing the firing squad—a testament to her attempt to maintain hope in desperate circumstances.
During her imprisonment, Sandiford formed a friendship with Andrew Chan, an Australian member of the Bali Nine who was executed by firing squad. Her connection to the case highlighted the international dimensions of Indonesia’s strict drug enforcement policies.
Indonesia’s immigration and corrections ministry reports that more than 90 foreigners remain on death row as of early November 2024, all on drug-related charges. The country last carried out executions in 2016, killing one Indonesian citizen and three Nigerian drug convicts by firing squad, though the government has recently signaled it could resume executions.
The British Embassy in Jakarta has directed all inquiries regarding the transfer to Indonesian authorities. It remains unclear whether Sandiford will stay at Bali’s overcrowded Kerobokan prison or be moved to another facility before her transfer to the UK.
The technical details of the transfer are currently being finalised, with both governments working to ensure the smooth repatriation of the prisoners within the projected two-week timeframe.
