A Tauranga lawyer has joined an international legal team trying to save the life of a grandmother facing a firing squad for smuggling $3.3 million worth of drugs into Bali.
Craig Tuck is working against the clock with top Indonesian lawyers and British QC Felicity Gerry on a $330,000 appeal for 58-year-old British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford.
It is the third high-profile drug-smuggling death row case Mr Tuck is involved in, including the one for Wanganui man Antony De Malmanche.
Sandiford was caught at Bali's international airport in May 2012 trying to smuggle 4.8kg of cocaine, worth $3.3 million, in her suitcase.
She was found guilty at her trial on January 22, 2013, and faces death by firing squad.
Prosecutors in India - where Sandiford had been living - claimed she was at the centre of a drug-importing ring, but she said she was forced to transport the cocaine to protect her family after threats.
Sandiford had no previous criminal convictions and worked as a legal clerk in England.
Mr Tuck said Sandiford, who lost her earlier appeals, now had one more chance to appeal to the Indonesian Supreme Court for a full retrial.
"We are simply seeking a full and fair hearing where her case is properly presented," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
Lindsay Sandiford
Mr Tuck had described Sandiford's case as possibly "the most important criminal appeal on the planet" and the clock was ticking.
"It's like playing a five-dimensional game of chess.
"You have all the political elements, the trans-national serious criminal organisations involved and corrupt practices written all over this case, and a very vulnerable client who has gone through a very nasty situation through the court system and coming out the other end facing a death squad."
Mr Tuck said there were elements of human trafficking and key evidence that was not explored during the trial.
Sandiford had largely represented herself and became aware she was facing the death penalty after being told by a BBC reporter, he said.
"Despite her role as a drug mule, and the co-operation Ms Sandiford gave to police after her arrest, she has been sentenced to be shot while others higher up the chain with more culpability are serving short prison sentences or walking free."
Mr Tuck said Sandiford's lawyers would challenge the British Government for its lack of action after refusing to help fund her legal battle.
In the next few weeks Mr Tuck would travel to England to try to seek a resolution to funding issues.
He said he became involved in Sandiford's case after she had helped many prisoners during her three years in Kerobokan Prison, including De Malmanche when he was struggling to cope.
