The New Zealand man accused of bringing 1.7 kilograms of meth in Bali in December 2014 may have had his rights violated when he was arrested at Ngurah Rai Airport.
According to the lawyer of drug trafficking accused Antony de Malmanche, the kiwi did not know he was carrying the drugs and Indonesian authorities were lax with explaining his rights to him, reports New Zealand’s 3 News.
In court on Tuesday, lawyer Chris Harno reportedly said that when de Malmanche was intercepted, his rights should have been given via translator, but that was not the case.
“From 1 to 4 December 2014, the investigators neglected their obligation to give an explanation to the defendant about his rights to appoint a lawyer,” he told the court, as quoted by 3 News.
“It means the defendant’s rights were stolen for 48 hours.”
We’re not sure how Indonesian court’s going to respond to this, but Harno says this denial of rights makes his client’s prosecution indictment invalid.
“We conclude that the indictment should be annulled by law or at least cannot be accepted because it’s formulated based on an investigation which violates criminal legal procedure,” he said.
De Malmanche, who could get the death penalty for drug trafficking, maintains he was duped by an online dating scam and the meth was planted on him.
The trial will reportedly resume next Tuesday with the prosecution’s response.
Photo: AFP
