The Indonesian Government Hands Over 2 Lindsay And Shahab Drug Prisoners To The UK

The Indonesian government handed over two foreign convicts of narcotics cases, Lindsay June Sandiford and Shahab Shahabadi to the British government.

"This process reflects Indonesia's commitment to fair law enforcement, upholding human values," said Deputy for Immigration and Correctional Coordination of the Coordinating Ministry for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram at the Class II-A Penitentiary (Lapas) Kerobokan in Badung Regency, Bali, Thursday, November 6.

The final process for the repatriation of the two inmates was marked by the signing of a handover report carried out by Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram with the Head of the Regional Office of the Bali Provincial Directorate General of Corrections, Dicky Nurmansyah, Head of the Denpasar District Attorney Trimo and Deputy British Ambassador to Indonesia Matthew Downing.

Meanwhile, Lindsay and Shahab were also present in the handover process and sat in second row from the signing table.

The two of them were compact wearing white shirts and during the ceremony, Lindsay covered her face with her hands and a white mask.

Unlike Lindsay, another British prisoner Shahab is seen sitting quietly wearing a blue mask.

About a minute after the signing, the two then left Kerobokan Prison.

Lindsay came out in a wheelchair and was carried by prison officers.

The two then entered the car with a special escort at around 21.28 WITA to I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Badung Regency, Bali.

According to Surya Mataram, the two are scheduled to fly at 00.30 WITA on Friday (7/11) early morning to Doha and continue their journey to London, England.

Later, after arriving in England, Indonesia will fully hand over the handling of the two prisoners following the country's legal rules.

Meanwhile, Deputy British Ambassador to Indonesia Matthew Downing on the same occasion thanked the Indonesian Government, especially President Prabowo Subianto and the Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Indonesian Correctional Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra and other agencies for the repatriation of the two citizens.

He said the agreement to repatriate prisoners was built on the basis of the principle of mutual respect for the sovereignty of the two countries.

"The two detainees had serious health problems and were sent back to England on humanitarian grounds," he said as quoted by ANTARA.

Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Indonesian Correctional Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra signed an agreement to repatriate the two prisoners with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth and Development of the UK Yvette Cooper in Jakarta on Tuesday (21/10).

Lindsay has served 13 years in prison since being detained on May 25, 2012.

The 68-year-old woman was sentenced to death for a 4.7 kilogram cocaine smuggling case on January 22, 2013.

He is currently known to suffer from type two diabetes mellitus and hypertension.

Apart from Lindsay, Shahab Shahabadi was 35 years old before his life sentence and had a skin disease in his subcutaneous tissue and mental disorders.

He was previously arrested in 2014 at Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten, for being caught carrying a package of narcotics class methamphetamine weighing about 9.696 grams.