A woman from south London, facing years locked in a Sri Lankan jail after being caught with £1.2 million worth of cannabis, has alleged poor treatment at the Negombo Prison.
Charlotte May Lee, aged 21, was arrested in Colombo last week after police allegedly discovered 46 kg of “Kush” in her suitcase.
The former cabin crew worker had just arrived in the Sri Lankan capital on a flight from Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, when she was arrested at Bandaranaike Airport and taken into custody on Monday (11 May).
Sri Lankan Customs officers said the stash was the largest amount of Kush ever to be detected at the airport since its opening in 1967.
On Sunday, Miss Lee was brought to the Negombo Magistrates’ Court, where she was remanded in custody for a further 14 days, while awaiting further hearings.
According to the Standard UK, Charlotte May Lee has revealed spending a week sleeping on a bug-infested sofa at the local force’s Narcotics Bureau.
Speaking about her “awful” ordeal, Lee also accused prison officers of refusing to hand over her ADHD medication and revealed she has not eaten for two days because the food is “too spicy”.
She added: “Now I’m here, stuck in this jail. I am trying my best to stay positive because what else can you do? I feel as though I have no human rights here.”
“The shower is not really a shower, it’s just a bucket that you pour over yourself but they don’t give you anything for that.”
“You are only allowed two or three hours outside in the sun a day, occasionally longer if there are a lot of women in court that day.”
She added: “I’ve not eaten in two days because the food is just too spicy for me.
“I have told my lawyers – I have three of them – that I need different food. They said they would sort that out but they still haven’t. I don’t know why.”
Lee said she had “no idea” that there were synthetic drugs in her luggage, suggesting she was set up.
Commenting on the matter, a Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are supporting a British woman who has been arrested in Sri Lanka and is in contact with her family and the local authorities.” (Newswire/ Standard UK)