British woman loses death sentence appeal in Bali

PanARMENIAN.Net - Briton Lindsay Sandiford has lost her appeal against her death sentence in Bali for drug trafficking, a Bali High Court spokesman has said, according to BBC News.

The court on the Indonesian island upheld the sentence handed down to the 56-year-old in January.

Sandiford, of Gloucestershire, says she was coerced into smuggling 4.8kg (10.6lb) of cocaine. She was arrested after a flight from Thailand in May 2012 and accused of being at the centre of a drugs ring.

Following her conviction earlier this year, the prosecution recommended 15 years imprisonment but a panel of judges later sentenced Sandiford to death by firing squad.

The appeal judges ruled the original decision was "accurate and correct," the court spokesman said, adding that Sandiford would be informed of the decision as soon as possible. The high court, sitting in the island's capital Denpasar, gave her 14 days to appeal to the Supreme Court starting from the day she is informed of the verdict.

If the Supreme Court rejects her appeal, she can seek a judicial review of the decision from the same court. After that, only the country's president can grant her a reprieve.

There are currently 71 prisoners convicted of drug charges on death row in Indonesia and 41 of them are foreigners, she added.

Last month, the authorities in Indonesia carried out their first execution for more than four years. Adami Wilson, a Malawi national convicted of drugs smuggling, was executed by firing squad north of Jakarta.