British Grandmother on Death Row: Death Penalty for Lindsay June Sandiford After $2.6 Million Cocaine Bust in Indonesia

A court in Indonesia has sentenced to death a 56-year-old British grandmother who was caught smuggling $2.6 million worth of cocaine.

"Prosecutors in Bali had asked for a 15-year sentence for Lindsay June Sandiford," wrote CNN. "But a panel of judges opted Tuesday to hand down the death penalty."

"Lindsay June Sandiford wept when judges handed down the sentence and declined to speak to reporters on her way back to prison, covering her face with a floral scarf," wrote the Christian Science Monitor. "She had claimed in court that she was forced to take the drugs into the country by a gang that was threatening to hurt her children."

"Indonesia, like many Asian countries, is very strict on drug crimes, and most of the more than 40 foreigners on its death row were convicted of drug charges."

Sandiford will appeal, though that is a lengthy legal process that can take years to resolve.

The government of Britain, which bans capital punishment on moral and humanitarian grounds, is mounting a defense of Sandiford.

"We strongly object to the death penalty and continue to provide consular assistance to Lindsay and her family during this difficult time," said British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire.

"The days of the death penalty ought to be past. This is not the way that a country that now values democracy and human rights should really be behaving," said Martin Horwood, a member of Parliament representing the area where Sandiford resides.

"Lindsay has always maintained that she only agreed to carry the package to Bali after receiving threats against the lives of her family," said Harriet McCulloch of Reprieve, a human rights charity. "She is clearly not a drug kingpin -- she has no money to pay for a lawyer, for the travel costs of defense witnesses or even for essentials like food and water."