2 Britons may face death in Indonesia cocaine plot

An Indonesian court indicted two Britons on Thursday on multiple charges involving an alleged cocaine drug ring on the resort island of Bali, which could see them both face the death penalty. Prosecutors told Bali’s Denpasar district court that Lindsay June Sandiford in May smuggled 4.79 kilogrammes of cocaine in the lining of her suitcase and that Julian Anthony Pounder had willingly received the drugs. Sandiford was arrested in May upon arrival at the resort island’s airport in Denpasar from Bangkok after customs officials found the drugs. Police then set up a sting and netted three more Britons and an Indian national. “The defendant acted against Indonesian law in smuggling illegal drugs classified under category one into the country,” prosecutor Lie Putra Setiawan told the Denpasar district court of Sandiford. Indonesian law divides drugs into three categories, the first listing those considered most serious, including cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines. “This offence carries a maximum penalty of death,” Setiawan told reporters after the session. Sandiford, who also faces charges of possession and selling narcotics, covered her face with a piece of cloth as she passed dozens of reporters to enter the courtroom. She appeared with only a translator, saying she had been given no access to a lawyer in prison, and requested more time to find one. The panel of judges went ahead with the hearing, having postponed the trial last week for the same reason, but said they would appoint her an attorney for the next session. In a separate indictment by the same court, prosecutors said Pounder collected cocaine from Sandiford on the street near the airport before he was arrested in the police sting. He was indicted on two charges, the most serious of which carries a maximum penalty of death. “The defendant acted against the law by offering a service to sell or purchase, or by being an intermediary in a transaction, of illegal drugs classified under category one,” prosecutor Ketut Sujaya told the court. The drugs found in Sandiford’s suitcase had an estimated street value of around $2.5 million, customs officials have said. The trials for the two Britons will resume next week. Indonesia enforces stiff penalties including life imprisonment and death for trafficking, producing and selling illicit drugs.