Leslie may soon walk free
Leslie may soon walk free
I Wayan Juniartha
The Jakarta Post/Denpasar
Prosecutors here on Tuesday dropped their main charge against
Australian model Michelle Leslie, 24, who was allegedly caught in
possession of the party drug ecstasy, and recommended to the
Denpasar District Court that she be jailed for only three months.
The sentencing recommendation, if acceded to by the court,
means that Leslie, arrested on Aug. 20 in Bali, will be released
when the trial ends.
"We believe the defendant to be guilty of violating Article 60(5) of
Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropic substances. Therefore, we
recommend that the defendant be sentenced to three months in
prison," prosecutor Risman Tarihoran told the court.
Leslie was arrested during a police drug raid on vehicles
entering the Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural Park in
Jimbaran. They found two ecstasy pills inside her handbag.
Article 60(5) of Law No 5/1997 states that whoever is found to
have received a psychotropic substance from an unauthorized
source is liable to up to three years in jail and a fine of Rp 60
million. However, it also stipulates that if the drugs are for
the person's own use, the maximum prison term is only three
months.
Leslie broke into a smile after her interpreter whispered the
prosecution recommendation into her left ear.
The prosecution had earlier charged the defendant under
Article 59(1e), which carries a sentence of up to 15 years'
imprisonment for possession of an illegal drug.
"Our decision (to ask for a lighter sentence) is based on the
law and all the information, including eyewitness accounts, that
emerged during the trial," Risman said.
Three out of a total of eight witnesses backed Leslie's excuse
that the pills did not belong to her, while the rest did not
contradict this claim.
Nicole Marre Lindeblad, Alan Gustav Roboth and Andre Wuisan
all testified that they saw Mia, a female friend of Leslie's,
placing the pills in the defendant's bag. Mia is still at large.
Moreover, a letter from Leslie's Australian doctor stated that
she was being treated with psychotropic drugs to ease emotional
problems rooted in her troubled relationship with her mother. A
local psychiatrist Denny Thong, after interviewing Leslie,
corroborated the contents of the letter.
"From this perspective, the defendant needs medical treatment
not a jail term. Incarcerating her will certainly not solve her
psychological problems," Leslie's lawyer Christo Immanuel Dugis
said.
Before adjourning the trial, presiding judge I Made Sudia said
he would deliver his verdict next Friday.
Leslie is one of a number of Australians charged with drugs
abuse in Indonesia. She reportedly converted to Islam after she
was arrested, and court documents identify her as Muslim. She has
often been seen wearing an Islamic head scarf during her trial.
In addition, a titillating turn to the case also seems to have
surfaced, as recent media reports have placed Leslie with a son
of Indonesia's chief economics minister, Aburizal Bakrie, at the
time of her arrest. The reports said that when the Australian
model was arrested, she was riding in a Kijang van supposedly
belonging to the Bakrie family company.
A company spokesperson has denied as "untrue" the reports that
were published in The Sun-Herald newspaper from Australia, and
added that they would consider a law suit against the paper.
Another Australian woman, Schapelle Corby, was sentenced to 20
years in prison in May for smuggling 4.2 kilograms of marijuana
into Bali from her home country. That sentence was cut on appeal
to 15 years.
Nine other Australians are also being tried in Bali on charges
of attempting to smuggle heroin from the tourist island to
Australia. They could be sentenced to death if convicted.