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2013-01-22 11:56:04
By FIRDIA LISNAWATI | Associated Press 24 mins ago
BALI, Indonesia (AP) An Indonesian court sentenced a British grandmother to
death on Tuesday for smuggling cocaine worth $2.5 million in her suitcase onto
the resort island of Bali even though prosecutors had sought only a 15-year
sentence.
Lindsay June Sandiford, 56, wept when judges handed down the sentence and
declined to speak to reporters on her way back to prison, covering her face
with a floral scarf. She had claimed in court that she was forced to take the
drugs into the country by a gang that was threatening to hurt her children.
Indonesia, like many Asian countries, is very strict on drug crimes, and most
of the more than 40 foreigners on its death row were convicted of drug charges.
Sandiford's lawyer said she would appeal, a process that can take several
years. Condemned criminals face a firing squad in Indonesia, which has not
carried out an execution since 2008, when 10 people were put to death.
A verdict is expected in the trial of Sandiford's alleged accomplice, Briton
Julian Anthony Pounder, next Tuesday. He is accused of receiving the drugs in
Bali, which has a busy bar and nightclub scene where party drugs such as
cocaine and Ecstasy are bought and sold between foreigners. Two other British
citizens and an Indian have already been convicted and sentenced to prison in
connection with the bust.
The British embassy said in a statement that it was in contact with London to
discuss the next step in providing legal assistance to Sandiford. It said the
United Kingdom "remains strongly opposed to the death penalty in all
circumstances."
Martin Horwood, a member of Parliament representing Sandiford's Cheltenham
constituency in western England, called the sentence a shock and said he would
raise the case with Foreign Secretary William Hague.
"The days of the death penalty ought to be past. This is not the way that a
country that now values democracy and human rights should really be behaving,"
Horwood told the BBC.
Harriet McCulloch of human rights charity Reprieve, which is assisting
Sandiford, urged the British government to support her appeal.
"Lindsay has always maintained that she only agreed to carry the package to
Bali after receiving threats against the lives of her family," McCulloch said.
"She is clearly not a drug kingpin she has no money to pay for a lawyer, for
the travel costs of defense witnesses or even for essentials like food and
water."
In its verdict, a panel of Denpasar District Court judges concluded that
Sandiford had damaged the image of Bali as a tourism destination and weakened
the government's drug prevention program.
"We found no reason to lighten her sentence," said Amser Simanjuntak, who
headed the judicial panel.
Prosecutors had been seeking a 15-year prison sentence for Sandiford, who was
arrested in May when customs officers at Bali's airport discovered 3.8
kilograms (8.4 pounds) of cocaine in the lining of her luggage.
State prosecutor Lie Putra Setiawan told reporters that the verdict was
"appropriate," explaining that prosecutors had been demanding 15 years because
of Sandiford's age.
Indonesia has 114 prisoners on death row, according to a March 2012 study by
Australia's Lowy Institute for International Policy. Five foreigners have been
executed since 1998, all for drug crimes, according to the institute.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has granted clemency to four drug offenders
on death row since he took office in 2004.
The most publicized recent case internationally is that of Schapelle Corby, an
Australian convicted of smuggling marijuana in 2005. Her 20-year sentence was
reduced last year and she is now eligible for parole, but she remains
imprisoned.
___
Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.