Aussie facing 10 years' jail over 1.8g of hash

[Oz]

ANOTHER Australian has been arrested with drugs in Bali, following in the footsteps of the Bali Nine and Schapelle Corby and prompting denials from Balinese police that Australians have been targeted.

John Julian Pyle, a 42-year-old South Australian, was arrested in his bungalow in the expatriates' enclave of Sayan, near Ubud, north of Bali's capital, Denpasar.

 

Police raided Mr Pyle's home before dawn on Sunday morning, and allegedly found 1.8g of hashish kept in a plastic bag, a small bottle and a condom box.

 

Police say the web designer has admitted his guilt and faces up to 10 years in prison, and a fine of 500,000,000 rupiah ($68,122).

 

Mr Pyle told The Australian last night he "was a little bit surprised about the whole thing but other than that I am okay".

 

His Adelaide-based mother Cynthia Pyle said her son had moved to Bali because the cost of living was much cheaper and she had been "horrified" to learn of his arrest.

 

"Hi ... are you in jail?," Mrs Pyle asked her son during a short phone call. "I didn't think he'd do anything stupid like that, especially after everything that has happened in Bali," she said afterwards.

 

Mr Pyle has lived in Bali for the past 2 1/2 years while his estranged wife and their child live in Australia.

 

Wearing a lime-green batik shirt and jeans, Mr Pyle yesterday engaged lawyer MH Rifan, who represents five of the nine Australians arrested in Bali last month.

 

Marijuana and hashish are considered schedule-one drugs in Indonesia, along with heroin, and possession is considered a serious crime.

 

Two officials from the Australian consulate-general in Bali arrived at the police station to offer assistance.

 

Ketut Wartana, the chief narcotics investigator in Gianyar, said Mr Pyle's arrest, just three weeks after the high-profile capture of the Bali Nine, was a coincidence. "There's no intention to consider Australians suspicious," he said.

 

In Sydney yesterday, Khanh Thanh Ly, who police say is linked to the Bali Nine, was released on $100,000 bail after the commonwealth prosecutor refused to oppose his application.

 

Mr Ly, 24, appeared before Magistrate Ross Pogson charged with conspiracy to import heroin into Australia between August 2004 and April this year, with Mr Pogson questioning why the DPP's Michael Poberenzy was prepared to let Ly back on the streets. Ly was one of four people arrested on Friday in Sydney and Brisbane.

 

"There is a presumption against bail and what seems to me to be a pretty strong case," Mr Pogson said in Sydney's Central Local Court.

 

"Can you give me a good reason (why bail is not being opposed)?"

 

"There are sound reasons that I am not at liberty to disclose," Mr Poberenzy replied.

 

Author: By Sian Powell and Tom Richardson

Date: 10/05/05

Source: The Australian

Copyright: Copyright 2005 News Limited.

[quizywig]

I think it does look like there starting to target aussies, 10 years for 1.8g of hash is insane, they'ed also have to do some serious searching to find a stash of 1.8g of hash in the first place. i just wouldnt go near any of these asian countrys just for my own peice of mind and saftey

[LoveMeBucket]

yeah fuck that, hope i dont ever have 2 go there.. end up in a fuckin monkey cage ahaha

[LoveMeBucket]

so im a old fart am i? ::

 

good 1 oz or was that u pure?

[everest]

reckon its about time aussies abandon bali , it's fucking crap any way .

just my 2 cents worth .

[Buddy]

Yeah, it makes you wonder what these prehistoric religious

Indonesians are up to.

 

The muslim holy man and terrorist, Abu Bakar Bashir, one of the masterminds of the Bali bombings that slaughtered eighty odd Australians and other tourists was sentenced to only four years in prison.....he will be out in 18 months.

 

Will he be sleeping in sub-human, rat infested conditions like the Australian prisoners ??......will Pauline Hanson be the next prime minister??

[M1557]

Look.

 

In my honest opinion:

 

The balinese governement is realy starting to piss me off.

 

Never before have i seen a story on the news that actualy made me yell at the t.v in absolute disgust.

 

I think this whole image that bali is trying to potray of a drug free and clean society is absolute fucking bull shit.

 

No offence to any one on this board who might be of indonesian blood, but i think the indonesians are some of the most corrupt fucks in the asian world.

 

I have been to bali once, and in all honesty have no desire to return.

It is the most filthy and disgusting island on the face of this earth, and i think that if they are going to charge people for holding the most smallest amount of hash then i say fuck them, fuck their tourism industry, and fuck their economy.

 

Hypocritical bastards.

 

::M1557::

[quizywig]

noticed a story on tv last night, the indo's are saying they are watching 4 or 5 aussies in bali on suspision of buying dope, the bloke with the 1.8g's had No THC in his system so there looking at him as a dealer, drugs are rife amongst the locals so there quite clearly targeting aussies, nice of them after the sacrifices are soldiers and volanteers have made in recent months,

If your in Bali get the hell out of there yesterday!

[FlowerPower]

I'll say one thing,

If Shanelle gets anything less than a full apology and a First class flight back home, I'm packing my shit up and heading for N.Z. This country is Out Of Control. The "masters" are so quick to send ozzie lads off to Iraq to protect U.S interests. But an innocent ozzie waits to be murdered, by the government of a country that accepts Billions of our taxes, and our government sits on its hands....

[Shezdog]

well if Balinese customs interrogated Corby correctly, this problem wouldnt evident as fingerprints on the bag would prove her innocence/guilt, on the other hand, it is still unquestionable that someone would be sent to death for a natural plant that has been here over 5000 years

 

craziness