Denpasar. Prosecutors are seeking a 15-year jail term for an Australian accused of smuggling drugs into the country.
Robert Paul McJannett, 48, was arrested in Ngurah Rai International Airport after his Virgin Blue flight from Perth landed on Dec. 28. When his luggage passed through an X-ray machine, a customs officer detected a suspicious box inside his suitcase.
According to customs, the officer discovered 1.7 grams of marijuana hidden in a folded sheet of metal tucked into black socks in the trade unionist’s luggage.
“We ask the judges to convict him to 15 years in prison,” said Nyoman Sucitrawan at McJannett’s indictment on Tuesday.
Prosecutors charged McJannett with violating at least three articles of the country’s Narcotics Law.
Bali Police said that when questioned, McJannett admitted to using the drug on the day he flew to Bali.
“[McJannett said] his purpose for smoking marijuana is just to make him sleep,” Sucitrawan said. Drug tests indicated the presence of drugs in McJannett’s urine and blood.
In response to the indictment, the accused’s attorney, Nyoman Gede Sudiantara, said he would not file an exception or defense memorandum.
“We asked judges to continue the trial with witness examination,” Sudiantara said.
In January, McJannett claimed he had been set up, saying he believed the marijuana allegedly found in his luggage had been wrapped in metal deliberately to set off X-ray machines.
The defendant told The Australian newspaper that he suffered from Meniere’s disease, diverticulitis, hepatitis C and a lung infection. He said his medications had been taken from him when he was charged.
“There’s smokers everywhere and every time I’m exposed to that it aggravates my childhood asthma,” he said.
McJannett ran in the last two elections for assistant secretary of Australia’s Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, losing both times to incumbent Joe McDonald.
In a Jan. 1 interview with The Australian newspaper, McJannett claimed that the leaders of the powerful trade union “hate my guts” and accused them of setting him up with the narcotics.
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