Indonesia death row grandmother ‘says goodbyes’

A GRANDMOTHER originally from Redcar, Teesside, who is on death row in Indonesia revealed she was making preparations for her own execution in the knowledge “I might die at any time now”.

Lindsay Sandiford has begun saying her farewells as she expects to be executed by Indonesian authorities despite a lengthy fight to appeal her sentence. Picture: PA

Lindsay Sandiford, 58, who is facing death by firing squad for drugs offences, said she has started writing goodbye letters to her family, having run out of time and money to seek clemency from authorities.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, she tells how she would like to see her granddaughter, who was born after her incarceration, “but at the same time I feel it would be better if she doesn’t know me”.

The piece comes after the execution last week of eight convicted drug smugglers, including two Australians. She also reveals she plans to shun a blindfold as they did and sing the light-hearted song Magic Moments.

She wrote: “The executions have forced me to think about how I am going to handle the situation when my own time comes. I won’t wear a blindfold. It’s not because I’m brave but because I don’t want to hide - I want them to look at me when they shoot me.

“I’ll sing too, but not Amazing Grace. I’ll sing Magic Moments by Perry Como. I had a boyfriend who used to change the lyrics of songs and play them on his Hammond organ to make me laugh. That was one of the songs he sang and it reminds me of those long-ago days.”

Sandiford said she was now the only death row prisoner left in Kerobokan prison and the Indonesian authorities want all executions for drug offences done by the end of the year.

She was sentenced to death in January 2013 in Bali after being convicted of trafficking drugs.

She was found with cocaine worth an estimated £1.6 million as she arrived on the island on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand, in May 2012.

She admitted the offences, but claimed she had been coerced by threats to her son’s life, and has since appealed against her sentence without success.

Last week she said she had been “deeply saddened” by the “senseless, brutal deaths” of Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, who were among the eight convicted drug smugglers executed last week.

She said the pair “touched the lives of a great many people” after helping to rehabilitate fellow prisoners.