After spending more than a decade on death row in Indonesia, Lindsay Sandiford, a 68-year-old British grandmother convicted of drug trafficking, has finally returned home to the United Kingdom after being freed on humanitarian grounds.
Her release ends one of the most closely watched and controversial foreign imprisonment cases of the past decade — one that drew global attention to Indonesia’s tough drug laws and the harsh realities faced by foreigners in its penal system.
Sandiford, who had been held at Kerobokan Prison in Bali since 2013, was quietly flown to London on Thursday aboard a commercial flight under consular escort. The Indonesian government confirmed she was released due to her declining health and “compassionate circumstances.”
“We can confirm that a British national has been repatriated from Indonesia following the completion of diplomatic arrangements,” the UK Foreign Office said in a statement. “We welcome her safe return and continue to work closely with the Indonesian authorities.”
A Case That Gripped Global Attention
Lindsay Sandiford’s story began in May 2012, when she was arrested at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport after customs officials discovered 4.8 kilograms of cocaine hidden in her luggage. The drugs, worth an estimated £1.6 million, had arrived on a flight from Bangkok.
She admitted to transporting the package but maintained throughout her trial that she had been coerced by a criminal gang operating between Thailand and Indonesia — a claim supported by some investigators but rejected by prosecutors.
In 2013, despite her cooperation with police and the absence of a violent record, Sandiford was sentenced to death by firing squad, shocking observers and human rights advocates. Her sentence stood out even in Indonesia, where capital punishment is typically reserved for large-scale traffickers.
At the time, judges described her role as “central” to the operation. Yet international lawyers and anti-death-penalty campaigners argued she was a vulnerable courier manipulated by traffickers.
