by StLGooner » Fri Feb 06, 2015 1:44 pm
by JordanTheGunner » Fri Feb 06, 2015 1:50 pm
StLGooner wrote:Nobody should have to die for smuggling drugs, especially when most Governments probably do it themselves. Bit harsh imo.
by Angelito » Fri Feb 06, 2015 1:53 pm
by UFGN » Sat Feb 07, 2015 11:23 pm
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond is standing firm on his refusal to fund her legal fight, despite a recommendation to do so by five Supreme Court judges in London who voiced grave concerns over the way her case had been handled.
Mr Hammond was in Jakarta on Wednesday for trade talks with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi. She said afterwards that Mr Hammond had voiced concern about Sandiford but did not lobby for her. Ms Marsudi told him the execution was in line with international law.
Sandiford has no lawyer or funds to pay the £50,000 cost of contesting her death sentence, and has been refused financial help by the British Government.
Her situation is further complicated by the suspension of Britain’s top diplomat in Bali, vice-consul Alys Harahap, 31, over her jail romance with drug lord Julian Ponder, who Sandiford claims coerced her into becoming a drugs mule.
Last night, former Director of Public Prosecutions Lord Ken Macdonald called on the British Government to intervene immediately and fund a lawyer for Sandiford. He said: ‘It is completely hypocritical for the UK to argue for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide and at the same to refuse to give proper assistance to a British citizen facing a firing squad.
After her arrest she took part in a police sting operation that led to the arrest of Ponder, 45, from Brighton, and three others. Sandiford was sentenced to death in spite of a prosecution recommendation that she serve 15 years, while Ponder was jailed for six years for cocaine possession. The other three received terms of between one and six years.
Ponder is widely believed to have paid huge bribes to secure reduced charges and lower sentences for all suspects except Sandiford who he admits he detests for taking part in the police sting.
The Supreme Court asked the Foreign Secretary to urgently review Sandiford’s case and consider funding a lawyer because Indonesian courts had ignored ‘substantial mitigating factors’ and because of the ‘remarkable disparity’ of her sentence compared to that of Ponder and the other defendants.
by AAIRE99 » Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:32 pm
JordanTheGunner wrote:StLGooner wrote:Nobody should have to die for smuggling drugs, especially when most Governments probably do it themselves. Bit harsh imo.
The government (including police) have the biggest hand in drug smuggling
by JordanTheGunner » Tue Feb 10, 2015 10:15 am
AAIRE99 wrote:JordanTheGunner wrote:StLGooner wrote:Nobody should have to die for smuggling drugs, especially when most Governments probably do it themselves. Bit harsh imo.
The government (including police) have the biggest hand in drug smuggling
Source? Indonesia or internationally?