Bali drug trial of three Brits facing death penalty begins
DENPASAR, Bali: The trial of three British nationals accused of smuggling cocaine or taking part in a drug deal on Indonesia's popular island of Bali began Tuesday (June 3), with all facing the death penalty in a nation with some of the world's toughest narcotics laws.
Indonesia hands out severe punishments for drug smuggling and has previously executed foreigners, but has upheld a moratorium on the death sentence since 2017.
Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 38, and Lisa Ellen Stocker, 39, were arrested on Feb 1 after being stopped at Bali's international airport with 17 packages of cocaine that weighed nearly a kilogramme, according to public court records.
They appeared in court alongside Phineas Ambrose Float, 31, who was allegedly due to receive the packages and arrested a few days later.
The heaviest punishment for taking part in a drug transaction is also the death penalty under Indonesian law.
An AFP journalist at the court said the hearing began Tuesday. A verdict was not expected until a later date.
The British embassy in Jakarta did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's administration has moved in recent months to repatriate several high-profile inmates, all sentenced for drug offences, back to their home countries.
Frenchman Serge Atlaoui returned to France in February after Jakarta and Paris agreed a deal to repatriate him on "humanitarian grounds" because he was ill.
In December, Indonesia took Mary Jane Veloso off death row and returned her to the Philippines.
It also sent the five remaining members of the "Bali Nine" drug ring, who were serving heavy prison sentences, back to Australia.
According to Indonesia's Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, 96 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges, before Veloso's release. - AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
‘Hollywood Con Queen' fails to quash US extradition
An Indonesian national dubbed the 'Hollywood Con Queen' by the media for allegedly impersonating top female movie industry executives in a seven-year fraud lost his bid on Tuesday to block his extradition from Britain to stand trial in the United States. Hargobind Tahilramani is wanted in California on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for allegedly defrauding around 300 people out of a total of approximately US$1mil (RM4.2mil) between 2013 and 2020. The 45-year-old is accused of tricking people into travelling to Indonesia and paying exorbitant fees for non-existent film work, before he was arrested in a hotel in Manchester, England, in November 2020. Tahilramani's extradition was approved by a judge and then British ministers in 2023, but he challenged the decision to send him to the US to stand trial, arguing prison conditions would breach his human rights due to his mental health. His lawyer Edward Fitzgerald told London's High Court in April that Tahilramani, who has applied for asylum in Britain, was also at risk of being attacked in prison as a gay man. But Tahilramani's appeal was dismissed by Judge Derek Sweeting, who said in a written ruling that the lower court was not wrong when it ordered his extradition to stand trial. — Reuters
Free Malaysia Today
4 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Fireworks factory blast kills 9 in Thailand
The blast happened around 11am in Suphan Buri province, north of Bangkok. (Suphan Buri provincial public relations office/AP pic) BANGKOK : At least nine people died and two others were injured in a fireworks factory explosion in central Thailand today, police told AFP, as officers continued to search for casualties. The factory ignited around 11am in Mueang district of Suphan Buri province, north of Bangkok, where images shared by a rescue group showed a charred building reduced to rubble. Thai police said nine people were confirmed dead – up from an earlier toll of four – and two others were being treated at a nearby hospital. 'We are trying to identify the cause of the blast,' local police chief Wanchai Khaoram told AFP. Factory fires are common in Thailand, where enforcement of safety regulations remains weak. Last year, an explosion at another fireworks factory in the same province killed at least 23 people.
The Star
11 hours ago
- The Star
Thailand fireworks factory blast kills nine
The factory ignited around 11am in Mueang district of Suphan Buri province, north of Bangkok. - Photo: SUPHAN BURI PROVINCIAL PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICE/Facebook BANGKOK: At least nine people died and two others were injured in a fireworks factory explosion in central Thailand on Wednesday (July 30), police told AFP, as officers continued to search for casualties. The factory ignited around 11am (0400 GMT) in Mueang district of Suphan Buri province, north of Bangkok, where images shared by a rescue group showed a charred building reduced to rubble. Thai police said nine people were confirmed dead -- up from an earlier toll of four -- and two others were being treated at a nearby hospital. "We are trying to identify the cause of the blast," local police chief Wanchai Khaoram told AFP. Factory fires are common in Thailand, where enforcement of safety regulations remain weak. Last year, an explosion at another firework factory in the same province killed at least 23 people. - AFP
