Teen faces Bali prison if convicted over drugs

Lawyers for a 14-year-old Australian boy who has been arrested by police in Bali and accused of buying marijuana say they have convinced police to re-interview him again later today.

The boy, from Newcastle on the New South Wales central coast, was arrested on Tuesday and accused of buying 6.9 grams of marijuana.

His lawyers say that depending on his history of drug use and treatment in Australia, he could be released without going through a criminal trial.

If he is convicted he faces years in prison and could be jailed at Kerobokan Prison along with people like Schapelle Corby, members of the Bali Nine drug ring, and convicted sex offenders.

The Australian Government has made the teen's case a diplomatic priority.

The 14-year-old has been held at police headquarters in Denpasar since Tuesday afternoon and has not yet been charged.

Last night the boy - who was on holidays with his parents and staying in the luxury resort area of Legian - managed to eat his first meal in two days.

He was upstairs in the narcotics branch with his parents, who were trying to keep up his morale.
Legal process

But his lawyer, Mohammad Rifan, says the boy is under a great deal of pressure.

"He [is] angry, he [is] crying, he [has] got the depression," Mr Rifan said.

"So it [is] a little bit complicated about his mentality at this time."

Mr Rifan is the second lawyer to deal with this case.

The first, named Suroso, says he saw the boy just a few hours after he was picked up.


Mr Suroso claims he saw the boy again on Wednesday, when he told police he bought the marijuana from a man who offered it to him on the beach.

The boy says he then went for a massage in Kuta - where he was arrested.

But Mr Rifan says the police who took that statement broke the rules about dealing with a minor.

He has convinced more senior officers to take new urine and blood tests and conduct a new interview later today.

"The regulation gives the right to minors [to have] assistance, to be accompanied by parents or the lawyer," Mr Rifan said.

Mr Rifan says that if the boy's parents can prove their son had a problem with marijuana in Australia and that he was receiving counselling for it, the case could be dealt with before it goes to court.

But he will not know how to proceed until after today's round of questioning.

If he goes to trial, the boy faces between two and six years in prison - half the sentence that would be imposed on an adult.
Audio: Julian McMahon on the boy's case (AM)

Bali Nine lawyer Julian McMahon says it is likely the court will simply return him to his parents.

"I am only aware of a couple of cases where people under 18 have gone to jail and they're for significantly more amounts of drugs [than] from this guy I think," he said.

But he then added: "Oh actually one of them is less."


Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has sent Australia's ambassador Greg Moriarty from Jakarta to Bali and asked him to make this case his top priority.

"I have indicated to him that his number one priority in the immediate period ahead is how we support this young boy and his family and do everything we can to obtain his early return to Australia," he said.

Mr Rudd says the consul and the consul general are having "rolling" contact with the family and that his heart goes out to the parents.

"I think if you put yourself in the position of being a mum or a dad with a 14-year-old who's got themselves caught up in this situation, you're heart would go out to the parents."

Mr Rudd says his job is to try and get the boy home.

"We respect those laws and we will work very closely with our friends and colleagues in Jakarta and Denpasar," he said.

The Federal Opposition has offered its support to Government efforts to bring home the teenager, describing the situation as a living nightmare for everyone involved.

But on Channel Seven, frontbencher Joe Hockey noted some public criticism of the case.

"I can understand the reaction of people when they first hear about anyone buying drugs in Indonesia, there is no sympathy," he said.

"But I don't know if we know the circumstances. Think back to when you were 14 years of age."

The arrest is the latest in a string of drug-related arrests of Australians in Bali in recent years.

Graeme Michael Pollock, from Darwin, was arrested last month with a small amount of methamphetamine. He is also yet to be charged.

A host of other Australians have been jailed for drug-related offences and are serving time in Bali's Kerobokan Prison, including the Bali Nine, the Gold Coast's Corby and Sydney man Michael Sacatides.

Two other Australians, Ricky Rawson from Victoria and Melbourne man Angus McCaskill, were released from jail earlier this year after serving time in Kerobokan.



(read in a Aussie newspaper)

( Not quite the right place to go for a holiday if you have a "weed" problem I would say, specially not at the ripe old age of 14!) siK.

Bali boy's 'nightmare' continues



Karlis Salna, AAP South-East Asia Correspondent
October 25, 2011 - 3:29PM.


AAP

An Australian schoolboy arrested in Bali three weeks ago after allegedly buying a small amount of marijuana has been left shaken after being jostled on his way to and from meetings with prosecutors.

It's expected the 14-year-old will now face court next week, with prosecutors confirm they planned to file a case with the District Court on Wednesday.

"The indictment will be handed over to the court tomorrow," the chief prosecutor in the case, I Gusti Gede Putu Atmaja, said after interviewing the teenager on Tuesday.

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A spokesman for the High Prosecutor's Office, Eko Indarno, later said that because the boy was a minor, efforts to fast-track the case would continue.

He said it was unlikely, however, that a trial would begin before the end of this week.

Mr Indarno also confirmed that the teenager would still face three charges, the most serious of which carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison.

"The three charges still applied," he said.

The comments came after the teenager, from Morisset Park near Newcastle in NSW, spent more than two hours at the District Prosecutors office where he answered questions and was taken through the evidence against him.

The lengthy process included prosecutors examining and weighing the 3.6 grams of marijuana the teenager was allegedly caught with when arrested by police on October 4.

Earlier on Tuesday, the boy was officially handed over by police into the custody of prosecutors.

It's understood he was traumatised and stressed after the handover at the office of the Bali High Prosecutor, during which police accompanying him had to force their way through a large contingent of media camped in the building's lobby.

The boy, with a denim jacket draped over his head and face, almost tripped as he was escorted by police up a flight of stairs to an office on the first floor of the building.

His lawyer Mohammad Rifan later told reporters it was a "nightmare for him".

He asked reporters to give his client space "because we worried if he get the nervous or get problem".

His parents, with hats pulled down over their faces, had arrived minutes earlier and also had to force their way into the building.

It's understood the boy's father was angered by the chaotic scenes.

"His father complained ... media could enter state facilities," Mr Rifan said.

"I have explained that Indonesia has press freedom. He's not afraid, just worry about the impact on his son."

Mr Atmaja interviewed the schoolboy for about 30 minutes at the High Prosecutor's office, asking him about where he allegedly bought the marijuana, as well as his past history with drugs.

The 14-year-old has been in police custody since October 4 when he was arrested outside a supermarket in Kuta allegedly carrying 3.6 grams of marijuana which he bought from a street dealer.

He will, however, be allowed to stay at an immigration detention centre in Jimbaran where he was moved on Saturday after spending almost three weeks behind bars at police headquarters in Denpasar.

The Year Nine student was moved to the more comfortable lodgings at Jimbaran, about an hour's drive from the prosecutor's office, after Indonesia's Minister for Law and Human Rights Amir Syamsuddin became involved in the case.

© 2011 AAP



Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-world/bali-boys-nightmare-continues-20111025-1mhin.html#ixzz1boeHdbjf

watoday

Bali boy interviewed by prosecutor

by: Deborah Cassrels
From:The Australian
October 26, 201112:00AM



Balinese police yesterday escort the blaclava-clad Australian teenager away from the district prosecutor's office in Denpasar. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: News Limited


FIGHTING his way through a media scrum in sweltering conditions, the Australian teenager facing drug charges in Bali was escorted by police to the chief prosecutor's office yesterday morning for a formal interview

The 14-year-old's lawyer, Mohammad Rifan, arrived with the boy, who shielded his head with a jacket. Seconds later, his parents -- also covering up -- followed.

Emerging about 40 minutes later, the party made its way to the district prosecutor's office to register the case for trial.

It will be held next week, chief prosecutor Gusti Gede Putu Atmaja said yesterday. The two-hour process ended with the boy emerging wearing a balaclava and being hustled into a waiting car with his parents.

Speculation the boy may be released ahead of his trial was unfounded, Mr Atmaja told The Australian.

"We have to go to the trial -- that's the procedure. Police make documents to bring to the trial."

He reiterated his opinion the boy would be charged under section 127 of Indonesia's narcotics law, which applies to a user and carries a maximum sentence of four years' jail.

The 14-year-old has been in police custody since October 4 after he allegedly bought 3.6g of marijuana in Kuta from a street dealer.

Asked how the boy was faring, Mr Atmaja said he was "OK -- he's honest and he feels sorry".

Mr Rifan, however, said the boy was frightened and traumatised.

"He (is) really nervous following the next process. This is like something new for him and he (does) not understand about the system over here."

The legal process has been expedited to make allowances for the 14-year-old. Prosecutors now have 25 days to hand over the case to court. A date for the trial is then set.

Mr Atmaja interviewed the schoolboy from Morisset Park, near Newcastle, asking him where he allegedly bought the marijuana, as well as his drugs history.

The boy was returned afterwards to an immigration detention centre at Jimbaran, where he has been detained since Saturday after he was moved from police headquarters in Denpasar.

The boy was transferred to the more comfortable centre at Jimbaran, about an hour's drive from the prosecutor's office, after Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin became involved in the case.

theaustralian