Major update on woman who was waiting to be executed by firing squad in Bali after making ‘final wish’
Lindsay Sandiford had accepted she was likely to be executed in prison
A British woman who has been on death row for over a decade has just gotten a major update on her situation.
Grandmother Lindsay Sandiford was caught trying to smuggle $2.1 million worth cocaine (about 11 lbs) in a false bottom of her suitcase at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport from Bangkok, Thailand, back in 2012.
Due to Indonesia’s strict drug trafficking laws, she was sentenced to death by firing squad the following year
She claimed that she had only agreed to carry the drugs as a drug syndicate had threatened to kill her son.
Sandiford had been held in the prison for over 10 years, awaiting her fate at the notorious Kerobokan facility and seemingly coming to terms with the fact any day could be her last.
Heather Mack, who had previously served a 10-year-sentence in the same prison, spoke to the Mirror about Sandiford losing hope and her final wish regarding her execution.
For her final wish, Sandiford asked that when she is executed her family don’t come and that they don’t make a fuss about her.
She added: “My attitude is ‘If you want to shoot me, shoot me. Get on with it’.”
The prison has previously made headlines for the apparent horrible levels of overcrowding and Sandiford has reportedly been sharing a cell measuring 10ft by 8ft with 13 other women, when the room is meant to hold three.
But the 69-year-old is unlikely to have to deal with this any longer as she is set to be repatriated and sent back to the UK as part of an agreement between the two countries.
She is set to be flown back to the UK despite previously giving up hope that she would be released.
An Indonesian government source told AFP: “The practical arrangement will be signed today. The transfer will be done immediately after the technical side of the transfer is agreed.”
Sandiford will reportedly be sent back to the UK alongside Shahab Shahabadi, 35, who is currently serving a life sentence in Indonesia after being convicted on drugs charges in 2014.
Mack also previously said that she was aware that Sandiford was spending all of her days ‘pretty much alone in her cell’ and stopped mixing with other prisoners.
She added that the pair had seen two other inmates being taken away for execution despite making significant efforts to change.
She added: “They had turned their lives around and were different people to when they were convicted, so everyone thought they would be OK, but when Lindsay witnessed them being taken away to face death, she realized that her own end was nearing. That’s when the stark reality set in.”
According to the Myanmar Accountability Project, a capital punishment verdict may be changed to a life prison term.
It depends on if the prisoner shows a ‘commendable attitude and actions’.
Sandiford had spent more than 10 years behind bars and had shown good behavior during her time in the prison, so some expected that she could be released months ago.
Woman waiting to be executed by firing squad in Bali has made a chilling final wish
Lindsay Sandiford is a grandmother-of-three, and she has told a cellmate what she wants to happen if she is executed
A grandmother-of-three who has been facing execution in Bali reportedly shared a shocking final wish after more than a decade behind bars.
Lindsay Sandiford was caught trying to smuggle 11lb of cocaine worth around $2.1 million at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport from Bangkok, Thailand.
She was sentenced to death row and was locked up in the notorious Kerobokan prison back in 2012, where she has remained ever since.
The prison has made headlines before for horrifying levels of overcrowding.
Sandiford has been sharing a cell measuring 10ft by 8ft with 13 other women, when the room is meant to hold three.
The prison was built to hold 350 inmates, but in 2017 was found to have nearly 1,400 prisoners.
A former cell mate of the British grandmother has spoken out about how Sandiford is coping behind bars as she awaits her fate.
Heather Mack served a 10-year sentence in the same prison for murder, and said the grandmother was ‘isolated’ at times.
She told the Mirror: “I am friends with Lindsay but she has been difficult to speak to recently.”
“She spends all day pretty much alone in her cell and doesn’t mix so much with the other prisoners. She snaps at me for no reason but I still make an effort with her.”
Lindsay shared a final wish: “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.”
“My attitude is ‘If you want to shoot me, shoot me. Get on with it’,” she said.
Mack said seeing two other inmates being taken away for execution was a shock: “They had turned their lives around and were different people to when they were convicted, so everyone thought they would be OK, but when Lindsay witnessed them being taken away to face death, she realised that her own end was nearing. That’s when the stark reality set in.”
She said the grandmother-of-three told her: “It won’t be a hard thing for me to face anymore, I might not have chosen this kind of end, but then again, dying in agony from cancer isn’t exactly appealing either. I do feel I can cope with it.”
In recent weeks it seems that there has been renewed hope of a release for the 69-year-old, following a legislation change in the country.
According to the Myanmar Accountability Project, a capital punishment verdict may be changed to a life prison term.
It depends on if the prisoner shows a ‘commendable attitude and actions’, and as Sandiford has spent more than 10 years behind bars and has shown good behaviour, like teaching other inmates to knit, some expect that she could be released.
In fact, one prison source says Sandiford is now so convinced she will be let go that she has been giving her belongings away.
The source explained to The Mirror: “Lindsay has slumped into depression because she’s not been released yet. She’s given away all her clothes and things she had because she was expecting to be released already. But it’s understood she will be released in a few months, along with other westerners.
“The new Indonesian president has, among his many changes, said he wants to reduce the numbers in jail.
“Local people are being released, then overseas people are to be looked at. Already the Australian drug group known as the Bali Nine are back in Australia.”
She was also reunited with her family earlier this year, and had the chance to hug her grandchildren.