Australian man in Bali set to avoid death penalty over 1.7kg cocaine delivery
An Australian man has likely avoided the death penalty after Balinese prosecutors dropped the most serious charges and demanded nine years' jail over 1.7kg of cocaine.
An Australian man has likely avoided the death penalty after prosecutors in Bali dropped the most serious charges against him and instead demanded a nine-year prison sentence over an alleged delivery of more than 1.7kg of cocaine to his home.
Lamar Aaron Ahchee, 43, was arrested in May and has claimed in court that he had no knowledge of the drugs found in the packages that were delivered to his apartment and insisted he was only doing a favour for a friend.
Police alleged that the former restaurant manager arranged for ride-hail drivers to pick up packages sent from the UK to obscure tracking, though the packages had been flagged by customs authorities.
The packages contained about Rp12bn ($1.14m) worth of cocaine.
Balinese prosecutor Made Dipa Umbara demanded in court on Tuesday that judges sentence Mr Ahchee to nine years in prison and a fine of Rp2bn, with a six-month subsidiary sentence if the fine is not paid. In the demand, prosecutors dropped the two most serious charges previously included in the indictment – importing Class I narcotics and distributing narcotics – which carry the death penalty as the maximum sentence.
The cocaine packages, weighing 881.9g and 832g, were found in Mr Ahchee’s possession in May after a controlled delivery operation in which authorities followed a suspicious delivery from Britain.
On Tuesday, Mr Ahchee’s lawyer Ida Bagus Gumilang Sakri submitted a plea and request for additional time. Presiding judge Cokorda Putra Budi Pastima scheduled the hearing to continue next Tuesday with the agenda of hearing the plea and, if necessary, the prosecutor’s response. A hearing of prosecutors’ demands would set the expectation for the final verdict by the judges in the coming weeks.
Even though Mr Ahchee looks to have avoided the most severe narcotics charges, John McLeod, a spokesman on behalf of his family said they were still unhappy with the prosecutors’ demand.
“We’re actually quite disappointed in it,” Mr McLeod said.
He said that, while nine years in prison was lower than the possible sentence Mr Ahchee could receive, the “actual evidence” they were planning to present before the court next time would push it even lower. “We have evidence that hasn’t been put to the court yet, which will be put forward next week … He was used by an Englishman. I think that will come out next week in court.”
Police initially claimed Mr Ahchee admitted that he did not know the owner of the packages and had simply been instructed by a “boss” to receive and distribute the drugs in exchange for Rp50m. But it was later clarified in cross-examination hearings that no payment ever happened.
Mr Ahchee has insisted he was only helping friends to order online delivery services and had no idea that the packages contained massive amounts of cocaine.
