Australian man Lamar Ahchee arrested in Bali did not know package was drugs: lawyer
Police then followed Ahchee back to his Canggu apartment and made the arrest.
A female staff member of one of Ahchee's neighbours witnessed the commotion in an alleyway beside the block of units.
Lamar Ahchee's Bali lawyer, Edward Pangkahila. Credit: Amilia Rosa
'I came outside because I was curious – it was so noisy, a ruckus, so many officers,' she said, identifying Ahchee as the centre of the officers' attention after this masthead showed her his photo.
'That man [Ahchee] was trying to run, and the officer chased him. I tried to take a video, but they stopped me. They said 'no video', so I just watched. The officers and that man, he was like five metres from where I was standing. They crowded the alleyway.
'He probably got injured when he tried to run. He was trying to reach the main street. There must have been dozens of officers.'
Ahchee could take heart from a similar case involving an English man, Thomas Parker, that concluded on Tuesday afternoon with a sentence of 10 months' imprisonment minus time already served.
Parker, who also has Pangkahila as his lawyer, was arrested in Kuta on January 21 after collecting a package that contained more than a kilogram of MDMA on behalf of a person he knew to be a drug dealer, and of whom he was afraid.
Investigators in that case dropped the charge that carried the death penalty after determining the package was not directly related to him.
'[Ahchee's case] is like Thomas' case,' Pangkahila said. 'I can't speak for the police, but I can speak for my client. [Ahchee] had no idea what was in the package; he never admitted it was his, he never received or was promised payment. It was just a favour.
'My client was very upset. He was so upset he was throwing himself onto the wall and onto the floor … he is stressed because he knows the charges carry the death penalty.'
Bali police will now work with prosecutors to complete Ahchee's interrogation and the investigation dossier. Once that is finished, a process that can take no longer than four months, prosecutors will prepare an indictment.
Speaking after Parker's case, Pangkahila said even a 10-month sentence was too long and that his client should be free.
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