British grandmother faces execution by firing squad in Indonesia

Lindsay Sandiford says she was made to a sign a letter in Indonesian which she did not understand, and fears it could have been a death warrant.

A British grandmother sentenced to death in Indonesia believes she has signed her own warrant after being convicted of drugs offences.

Lindsay Sandiford, 58, who is from Redcar in Yorkshire, could be the next foreigner to face a firing squad in the country after she confirmed the death sentence issued to her.

Sandiford was convicted of smuggling cocaine to the party-island of Bali in 2013, but claims she smuggled the drug because a crime syndicate said they would harm her sons if she refused. She fears her execution could be imminent.

She says she was made to a sign a letter in Indonesian which she did not understand, and fears it could have been a death warrant.

Speaking from Bali’s Kerobokan Prison, Sandiford told her sister Hilary Parsons in a phone conversation: “If I sign the letter, am I signing my own death warrant? Am I saying, “Go ahead and shoot me?” The letter is in Indonesian so I won’t even know what it says,” according to media reports.

The grandmother is currently without legal representation after the Foreign Office refused to fund £38,000 for a second appeal. She is reported by her family to be suffering from depression.

Last week five foreigners were shot dead by the country’s government after being convicted of drugs offences.

The crackdown comes after Indonesia’s populist new president Joko Widodo pledged to  show no mercy to people convicted of smuggling drugs.

Human Rights group Amnesty International said the letter Sandiford had been asked to sign was believed to be a confirmation that she had exhausted all of her appeals.

She still has a clemency hearing, but this is dependent on the country's new president, who has staked his reputation on executing people charged with drug trafficking.

Amnesty says it has appealed for urgent action to save a further 20 foreign nationals apart from Ms Sandiford.