Overview
- Sandiford arrived at London Heathrow on Nov. 7 after a Qatar Airways flight via Doha, with AFP photos showing her being wheeled through Terminal 4 on a government-funded ticket.
- The repatriation was enabled by an October transfer deal signed by Indonesia’s law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra and UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
- Britain’s deputy ambassador in Jakarta said the return was on humanitarian grounds and that initial steps in the UK would focus on health assessments and treatment.
- Indonesia’s deputy minister I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram said the pair’s detention shifts to the UK and stated she would remain in prison, while the FCDO said only that it is supporting the returnees and coordinating with Indonesian authorities.
- Sandiford, sentenced to death in 2013 for smuggling nearly five kilos of cocaine into Bali, was transferred alongside fellow Briton Shahab Shahabadi, with both described by officials as seriously ill.