Alys Harahap – British diplomat sacked in Bali – talks to the MAIL ON SUNDAY…
Alys Harahap came to Featureworld to get her side of the story out over the Lindsay Sandiford case. Mrs Sandiford is the 58-year-old grandmother from Cheltenham who was sentenced to death in May 2012 for attempting to smuggle 10.6Ib of cocaine onto the holiday island of Bali.
The recently sacked British diplomat has been accused of having an affair with a prisoner at the Indonesian jail where Lindsay Sandiford is being held. And she wanted to break her silence to deny she has harmed British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford’s chances of escaping the firing squad.
Previously I spoke with a friend of Alys who wanted to put the record straight and that story also appeared in the Mail on Sunday.
However, Alys, who refuses to refuse to be blamed for Lindsay Sandiford’s death sentence, has now decided she wanted to speak out publicly herself.
The married mother of two small children says: ‘Allegations of some sort of sexual relationship with any prisoner are absolute rubbish.’ She adds by the time she had been posted to Bali, Mrs Sandiford has already decided she didn’t want to see anyone from the Foreign Office because she believed they had not helped her case.
Time is feared to be running out for Mrs Sandiford after two Australian drug smugglers – Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran – were executed in April. They were shot at dawn after President Joko Widodo refused to grant them a last minute reprieve, despite pleas from their governments.
But this week Mrs Sandiford’s Indonesian lawyer Mr Chris Harno announced to the world’s media he is launching an appeal on ‘new evidence’ thought to centre on the reported sexual relationship between Alys Harahap and Sandiford’s co-accused Briton Julian Ponder.
Alys, who was recently dismissed by the Foreign Office over the claims – strongly denies any sort of improper relationship. She says Ponder made the claims after she refused to meet his demands to speak with him day and night. Meanwhile Mrs Sandiford is using the allegations to demonstrate that she was left without vital consular assistance.
However, Alys says despite trying to help, Mrs Sandiford always refused to see her.
You can read the full story in the Mail On Sunday.
Read what Alys had to say about using Featureworld.
Has there been a story in the press published about you? If you would like to get your side out there but don’t know how to go about it, then get in contact.