British grandmother sentenced to death for drug trafficking in to appeal to Indonesia's Supreme Court
AAP April 19, 20134:15PM
Lindsay June Sandiford of Britain was sentenced to death for smuggling cocaine worth $2.5 million into Bali. Source: AP
A BRITISH grandmother on death row for trafficking drugs into Bali will lodge an appeal with Indonesia's highest court next week after losing a first bid to get the sentence lifted, her lawyer says.
"We are going to send the notification that we are appealing to the Supreme Court next week, on Tuesday or Wednesday," said Fadillah Agus, lawyer for Lindsay Sandiford.
Sandiford was sentenced to death in January after cocaine with a street value of $A2.34 million was found in her suitcase as she arrived on the resort island last May.
The death sentence was a shock verdict after prosecutors recommended 15 years.
Police said she was at the centre of a drugs-importing ring involving three other Britons - but the 56-year-old claimed she was forced to transport the drugs in order to protect her children whose safety was at stake.
Last week she lost her first appeal to the Bali High Court after a closed hearing of three judges decided the lower court's original sentence had been "accurate and correct".
If the Supreme Court rejects her appeal, she can seek a judicial review of the decision from the same court.
After that, only the president can grant her a reprieve.
Most people handed the death penalty for drugs offences in Indonesia fail to get their sentences lifted on appeal and face a long wait in jail before being taken to a remote, undisclosed location at night and executed by firing squad.
