Australian Lamar Ahchee faces nine years in Bali jail over alleged cocaine haul
An Australian became emotional after hearing he could face a lengthy time behind bars and a huge fine if he is found guilty of smuggling $1.1m of cocaine into the Indonesian tourist hotspot.
Alleged Bali drug criminal Lamar Ahchee has shed tears as Bali prosecutors seek he be jailed for almost a decade over a cocaine haul delivered to his home.
The Cairns-born businessman, 43, said he was “upset” after the short hearing during which prosecutors told the Denpasar District Court he should be found guilty of “drug possession” and serve nine years in jail.
Prosecutors also demanded Mr Ahchee pay a 2bn Rupiah fine ($A183,000) or spend an extra six months in jail if he is found guilty.
“The defendant’s act is against the government’s program on eradicating narcotics,” the prosecutor told the court.
But he also said Mr Ahchee had been “polite” during the trial process.
Mr Ahchee said he did not believe the prosecutor’s submission was “fair”.
He will state his defence at the next hearing on December 9.
The self-confessed drug user however has likely avoided the death penalty, which is still applicable in serious drug cases in Indonesia.
“We feel disappointed with the prosecutor’s demand today,” supporter and former cop,
John McLeod, said.
“We were just hoping for something a little bit less… with the evidence that clearly shows that he’s not a drug dealer. And that he was set up with the whole thing.
“He’s a little bit shock, and we’ll get him some help with this, but he’s a little bit in shock. Which is natural when you’re facing nine years in jail.”
The entrepreneur has been on remand since his arrest in May at Bali’s infamous Kerobokan jail.
Police arrested Mr Ahchee after tracking two packages allegedly containing 1.7kg of cocaine from Denpasar to his apartment in Tibubeneng in North Kuta.
The $1.1m cocaine haul was hidden in 206 Lindt chocolate wrappers.
Mr Ahchee has previously claimed he was “set up” by a British man who he wanted police to find.
“I was set up. It wasn’t me,” Mr Ahchee told NewsCorp while being led handcuffed to a courtroom in November.
“I hope they get the real guy.”
Asked whether the “real guy” was a British man known to him, Mr Ahchee said ‘you’ll see soon’.
He said the conditions in Bali’s Kerobokan jail were “challenging”.
“I just wanna go home back to Australia,” he said.
After his arrest, Mr Ahchee threw himself against a police station wall as he became distressed he had been deceived by a friend who asked him to collect the alleged drug-laden packages.
Mr Ahchee worked in Sydney before moving to Bali in 2017.
Mr Ahchee has previously testified at Bali’s district court that he did not know there was cocaine in the packages he collected outside his home and that he was doing a favour for a friend.
Police have not charged anyone else in connection with the drugs.
Police say they were tipped-off about the packages and tracked them after they arrived at Denpasar.
It was alleged by prosecutors that Mr Ahchee arranged for the packages to be picked up from post offices offering the ride-share drivers $4,700 to have them delivered to him.
A panel of judges will rule on the case at a later date.
The last executions that took place in Indonesia were in 2016, a year after two of the Bali Nine — Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were shot by firing squad.
