Bali prosecutor wants short jail term for Australian over drugs

Denpasar, Indonesia (ANTARA News) - An Indonesian prosecutor on the resort island of Bali Thursday recommended that judges sentence an Australian man to eight months in jail for possessing 0.4 grams of heroin.

Prosecutor Agung Atmaja was quoted by AFP as telling the court that defendant Franklin Brett Maxwell, 45, was only proven guilty of consuming drugs and being an addict, rather than the main charges of possession and keeping an illegal dangerous substance, which could carry a 10-year jail term.

Under Indonesian law, drug sentences are more lenient when the defendant is proven to be an addict.

Judge Nyoman Sutama said the trial would resume on May 22 for sentencing.

Maxwell was arrested in January in the popular tourist district of Kuta with 0.4 grams (0.014 ounces) of heroin. He told police he had bought the drugs from a woman on Kuta beach for 800,000 rupiah (about 87 dollars).

A string of Australians have been detained for drug possession or trafficking in recent years on Bali, including the so-called Bali Nine gang, three of whom are on death row for attempting to smuggle heroin from the island. (*) end