Second British woman faces death penalty for 'trafficking drugs into Indonesia'
Andrea Ruth Waldeck was arrested in April after authorities found 1,472 grams (52 ounces) of methamphetamine crystals in her hotel room
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Your support makes all the difference.A British woman appeared in court in Indonesia today accused of trafficking drugs worth more than £3,000 into the country's second-largest city.
Andrea Ruth Waldeck, 43, was arrested in April after authorities found 1,472 grams (52 ounces) of methamphetamine crystals in her underwear at her hotel room in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Prosecutor Deddy Agus Oktavianto said Miss Waldeck told authorities that her boyfriend, who lives in China, had ordered her to bring the drugs to a man in Indonesia in exchange for £3,100, the paper said.
Mr Oktavianto said Miss Waldeck's trial had started on Monday at Surabaya district court.
He said Miss Waldeck is expected to give a statement in the next court hearing on Monday.
According to the Jakarta Post, Mr Oktavianto said the defendant had violated articles 114 and 112 of the 2009 Narcotics Law, which carries a possible death sentence.
In a Facebook profile which appears to have been set up by Miss Waldeck in July, she said: "My new, very private profile for the friends and family I love and miss so much.
"Your support means the world to me. I'm so very sorry I've disappointed you all."
In another message posted on July 12, she said: "Can't change my name or delete pics from this phone or answer messages individually but only my fb friends can see this. Please don't worry this is Indonesia and some have prison staff as friends."
She also says her brother will be coming out to visit her and appeals for friends to donate books and clothes to her.
Messages of support have also been posted by friends telling Miss Waldeck everyone is 100% behind her and to "stay positive".
Last month, grandmother Lindsay Sandiford, from Gloucestershire, lost her appeal against a death sentence for trafficking drugs into the resort island of Bali.
A three-judge panel at the Supreme Court in Jakarta unanimously rejected her appeal after agreeing with the decision taken by Bali's Denpasar district court, spokesman Ridwan Mansur said.
The 56-year-old, from Cheltenham, was sentenced to death by firing squad after being found at Bali's airport with 10.6lb (4.8kg) of cocaine in the lining of her suitcase, worth an estimated £1.6 million, during a routine customs check after she arrived on the Indonesian island on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand, in May last year. She was sentenced in January.
Balinese police claim Sandiford, originally from Redcar, Teesside, was at the centre of a drugs-importing ring involving three other Britons.
But she denies the allegations, claiming she was forced to transport the drugs to protect her children, whose safety was at stake.
Under Indonesian law, Sandiford still has the opportunity to seek a judicial review of her case before appealing for a presidential pardon.
AP