Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Does this look like the face of a British grandma sentenced to death for smuggling drugs?
Source- 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.
In London, British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire told lawmakers Wednesday that the government strongly opposes Sandiford's sentence.
"We strongly object to the death penalty and continue to provide consular assistance to Lindsay and her family during this difficult time," he said.
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.
If shit ever hit the fan for me and I had to resort to the drug smuggling game I know now to stick to countries where it is not punishable by death. Death by firing squad? I'm shocked they are even being that humane, why not round up the townsfolk of Bali and supply them each with a rock for a public stoning? Truth be told I really don't believe Scarf Face's story at all. Your fighting for your life and the best you come up with is some gang threatened my children? Even if it's true, your 56, your children are probably all grown ass adults who can take care of their own shit. It's time to let the birds leave the nest and politely decline the gang's request to smuggle 8 pounds of the devil's dandruff into foreign lands .Do what old ladies are suppose to be doing, watch your stories, be slightly racist, be pissed off when anyone calls and pissed off when nobody calls.
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