[Indonesia Report] British couple feared to be imprisoned 20-years in Indonesia

Cocaine (Photo: http://signsofcocaineuse.com)

Julian Ponder and Rachel Dougall, both are British nationality, are facing a 20-year imprisonment.

Indonesian police arrested Ponder and Dougall on May 19.

They were arrested in their villa in Tabanan, Bali, after another British woman, Lindsay June Sandiford, who was arrested earlier told police that she had handed over the 4,7 kilograms of cocaine to Ponder.

In the course of the arrest, police seized 23 grams of cocaine from Ponder and 45 grams from Dougall.

Ponder and Dougall are currently being detained in a Bali Police Facility and soon will be moved to Kerobokan prison.

According to The Jakarta Globe’s report, Denpasar Police said the British couple was members of a drug ring comprised of four Britons and an Indian national.

“The suspects will soon be tried now that the dossiers have been handed over,” prosecutor Ketut Sujaya said after receiving the dossiers from Bali Police on Wednesday (Sept 12).

They are charged for accepting cocaine weighing more than 1 kilogram, breaching a clause in a 2009 drug law that is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

In case of  Sandiford, she is expected to face charge of smuggling that carries death penalty.

Nengah Sudiarta, Sandiford’s lawyer, said that Sandiford is persistently saying that she did not know what was in the suitcase she was caught with, which she says she got from a contact in Bangkok.

Indonesia has a stringent drug laws with severe penalties. Currently, two Australian are on death row in Kerobokan prison, Bali.

Meidyana Rayana Intern Reporter news@theasian.asia