Lindsay Sandiford is the latest damsel in distress for Clive Stafford Smith and his Reprieve organisation. Last month
he and Reprieve whined "There is compelling evidence that a British grandmother facing the death penalty in Indonesia on drugs charges was threatened and coerced into acting as a courier, an international expert has said."
Sandiford was caught red-handed, so the suggestion that she was totally innocent would not wash even with Reprieve's gullible supporters. The claim that she was coerced (by anonymous
drug barons) is self-evident nonsense. After publishing my
first report on Sandiford's case I received an e-mail from a foreign correspondent who opined:
"Alexander, very interesting points about Reprieve. I cover the
Sandiford case for drugjail.com and have been making this very point - that Reprieve and a self appointed expert in 'women drug trafficking' Dr Jennifer Fleetwood, have no evidence to back up their claims. New evidence is emerging that Sandiford was a known dealer involved for years."
Whether or not that is the case, the sentence came as a shock because the prosecution had asked for a
15 year gaol term. Her lawyers say they will appeal; the news did not go down well here in the UK because the British Government is opposed to the death penalty unconditionally, but according to the aforementioned
DrugJail website, the intervention of Reprieve and their so-called expert may have damaged the defence case by making ludicrous, unsubstantiated claims.
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