An Australian expat caught with drugs in Bali is pleading ignorance, claiming that he didn’t realize drug use in Indonesia was “such a big crime.”
Kind of hard to believe when the man has been living here for the past six years as a bar owner in Sanur, but perhaps he was living in a bubble.
Giuseppe Serafino, 48, is on trial in Denpasar for hashish use after he was arrested back in October 2016, with seven grams of the drug allegedly found in his Bali home.
“I didn’t know that using drugs in Indonesia was such a big crime,” Serafino said in Denpasar Court on Monday, as quoted by News Corp Australia.
Serafino said he started to treat his pain with marijuana in 2007, after he was diagnosed with mouth cancer.
He added that an Australian doctor had “allowed” him to smoke hashish and that he carried on when moving to Bali, sourcing his supply at McDonald’s for around Rp 3 million.
Serafino said he didn’t mention his Australian doctor’s recommendation upon arrest because of the language barrier.
“I cannot speak Indonesia so I couldn’t explain … I don’t know how the system works here.”
A light drug use sentence would mean just four years prison for Serafino, but he could get up to 12 years.
Also entangled in the matter is former Reuters war correspondent, David Fox. After Serafino’s arrest, the Briton was set up in a sting operation and is facing similar charges as Serafino of possessing and transporting hashish.
After Fox was arrested, he admitted to police that he had been using hashish for years due to the stress of covering conflicts.
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