They had been presented before the media in a handover ceremony at Kerobokan jail a day earlier, with Sandiford covering her face.<\/p>\n
Their \u201cdetention will be moved to the United Kingdom\u201d under the bilateral deal, the official, I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, told reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Lindsay and Shahab, after we hand [them] over to the United Kingdom Government, [they] are fully responsible for the legal decision that will be given there but still respecting our legal decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandiford wound up behind bars after Indonesian customs officers found cocaine worth an estimated US$2.14 million ($3.8m) hidden in a false bottom of her suitcase when she landed in Bali in 2012.<\/p>\n
Sandiford admitted to the offences but said she had agreed to carry the narcotics after a drug syndicate threatened to kill her son.<\/p>\n
British death row inmate Shahab Shahabadi (centre) attends a press conference before being repatriated under an agreement between Indonesia and Britain. Photo \/ Juni Kriswanto, AFP<\/p>\n
The repatriation comes after Indonesia\u2019s senior law and human rights minister, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, signed a deal with British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper last month for the transfer of Sandiford and Shahabadi.<\/p>\n
Both prisoners are suffering from severe health problems.<\/p>\n
Yusril said last month that Sandiford was \u201cseriously ill\u201d, while Shahabadi was \u201csuffering from various serious illnesses, including mental health issues\u201d.<\/p>\n
Matthew Downing, Britain\u2019s deputy ambassador to Indonesia, said the two were being repatriated on \u201chumanitarian grounds\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they first arrive in the UK, the priority will be about their health,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Two drug convicts who have been imprisoned in Indonesia are suffering from severe health issues and will undergo health assessments and treatment in Britain. Photo \/ Juni Kriswanto, AFP<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they\u2019ll be going through a health assessment, and any treatment and rehabilitation that they need.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two will be \u201cgoverned by the law and procedures of the UK\u201d Government upon their return, Downing said.<\/p>\n
Sandiford\u2019s case caught tabloid attention in Britain, with one newspaper publishing in 2015 an article in which she detailed her fear of death.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy execution is imminent, and I know I might die at any time now. I could be taken tomorrow from my cell,\u201d she wrote in the Mail on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have started to write goodbye letters to members of my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of August, nearly 600 inmates were on death row in Indonesia, according to the rights group KontraS, citing official data.<\/p>\n
Among them are around 90 foreigners, according to the Immigration and Correction Ministry.<\/p>\n
Indonesia last carried out executions in 2016, killing one of its own citizens and three Nigerian drug convicts by firing squad.<\/p>\n
President Prabowo Subianto\u2019s administration has repatriated several high-profile inmates since he took office in 2024, including the last five members of the so-called \u201cBali Nine\u201d drug ring.<\/p>\n
In December, Filipina inmate Mary Jane Veloso tearfully reunited with her family after nearly 15 years on death row.<\/p>\n
And French national Serge Atlaoui, 61, was returned home in February after 18 years on death row.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They had been presented before the media in a handover ceremony at Kerobokan jail a day earlier, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[14801,85818,3468,634,3401,2245,43765,66043,4999,14322,51249,42,1345,85819,8454,5696,43,90,5202,1527,29689,2846,40,38,41,39,1613],"class_list":["post-122573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-british","tag-convicts","tag-deal","tag-death","tag-drug","tag-early","tag-flew","tag-flies","tag-friday","tag-grandmother","tag-grounds","tag-headlines","tag-home","tag-humanitarian","tag-including","tag-indonesia","tag-news","tag-on","tag-part","tag-return","tag-row","tag-them","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}