Drug Smuggler Lindsay Sandiford Takes Death Penalty Case to UK Supreme Court

Lindsay Sandford at her trial last year.

THE GUARDIAN: British woman facing execution in Indonesia makes last appeal for UK government to fund her defence

A British woman facing execution by firing squad in Indonesia for drug smuggling has no funds to mount a legal challenge against her sentence, the UK's highest court has been told.

Lawyers for Lindsay Sandiford, 57, from Cheltenham, are arguing at the supreme court that the government's policy not to provide funding for legal representation to Britons facing capital charges abroad is unlawful. The court of appeal rejected this argument in May last year.

Her barrister, Aidan O'Neill QC, told five supreme court judges that previously Sandiford had been able to fund her legal fight against the death sentence in the Indonesian courts through donations.

He said the only two chances left to her now were appealing against her sentence at the Indonesian supreme court or submitting a petition for clemency to the country's government. The first course required "detailed knowledge of Indonesian law", the second "close knowledge of the Indonesian judicial and political situation and environment".

O'Neill added: "The appellant is however effectively without legal representation in Indonesia and she has no access to any further private funding which might otherwise allow her to instruct a suitably qualified lawyer." » | Steven Morris and agency | Wednesday, June 04, 2014

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