A British grandmother who spent 12 years on death row in Indonesia after being convicted of drug trafficking Fleteng balay on Friday, as part of the UK and Indonesian governments.
Lindsay Sandiford, 69, was sentenced to death on the island of Bali in 2013, after she was found with almost 5kg worth £1.6m ($2.1m) when she arrived in Thailand in 2012.
Indonesia has some of the strictest drug laws in the world, but it has released many profile details, including the infamous “Bali Nine” drug ring.
Sandiford was reunited with another National Sharab Shahabadi, who is serving a life sentence for drug smuggling.
Their flight left Bali at around 00:30 Local Time (16:30 GMT Thursday), Indonesian officials said.
Sandiford and Shabahadi both suffered health problems while in prison. Last month, the senior law of Indonesia, Yusril IHHA MEHDRA, said that Sandiford “severe health diseases”, Shhabadi reported the health agency “, the AFP News Agency.
Sandiford attended a press conference at Bali Prison in a wheelchair an hour before he was due to fly home.
He pleaded guilty in 2013, but said he only agreed to transport the cocaine after a drug syndicate threatened to kill his son.
The UK’s deputy ambassador to Indonesia Mateo Mateo said Sandiford and Shabahadi were returned on “humanitarian grounds”.
They will be given the necessary treatment while being “governed by UK law and procedure” upon their return, he added.
In December 2024, Indonesia repatriated the five remaining members of the “Bali Nine” drug ring, after they had served nearly 20 years in Indonesian prisons. Both ringleaders were killed in a squad firing in 2015.
In December, Filipina Mary Jane Veloso was returned to the Philippines. The mother of two, who was about to be killed, has always maintained that she was tricked into bringing the drugs found on her.