An Australian man, who allegedly fled to Bali to evade drug charges in Oz, pled before Denpasar District Court on Monday.
Aussie Shaun Edward Davidson, 31, is accused of assuming the identities of two different men with forged and stolen travel documents while in Indonesia.
In his defense on Monday, Davidson admitted remorse and acknowledged that what he did was wrong—surely the best recognized tactic in Bali court to get off with some leniency, no matter what the crime.
“Honorable assembly, prosecutors, immigration officials, and all the people of Indonesia, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the whole situation, for the things that I did against the law,” Tribun Bali quoted Davidson as saying.
Before the court, Davidson told he checked into a hotel using a passport under the name Michael John Bayman. Davidson had previously insisted in court that he had not used a fake passport, but now has apparently decided to come clean.
Davidson said he did not realize that using a fake passport is such a serious crime.
“If I knew what I know now, I would never have used the passport to book a room,” he stated.
It was an immigration raid of the Kuta hotel where Davidson had been staying that led to his arrest.
Prosecutors have demanded that Davidson get 18 months behind bars as well as pay a Rp 200 million fine.
“That punishment would be too severe for me. I’m not rich, I don’t have the money to pay the fine.”
The trial continues next week.
