NEWS: News.com.au - 22/08/2005 'Aussie model in Bali drug bust'

[Hater]

bali has a reputation in aussie society for being our close to home party country and im not surprised australian drug use is prevalent over there but we have to realise that they are cracking down on drugs at the moment basically imagine operation supervikings 24/7 365 days a year and dont forget that thanks to our media indo police will search any aussie acting suspicously

people seem to think using drugs in bali is an easy offence to get away with compared to over here where u gotta be pretty careful in clubs well whats ur worst fear in a club getting kicked out being done for pocession?
its become quite obvious that being done for pocession in bali will get u thrown in jail personally i think thats absurd

what i find even more absurd is that people cant respect the fact that we arent indonesian citizens we didnt vote their leaders in they did so if u got a problem with indonesian law get over it u got a problem with australian law as long as ur an australian citizen u have the democratic right to try and change that

oh and if ur planning a drug holiday just go to amsterdam or vancouver like the rest of us do

 

[notneo]

I know a couple people who have been to bali and taken drugs there, I think there needs to be a bit more education by the government as at the moment the message doesn't seem to be getting through....

 

[CuPillar]

like it was said.. you cant say who is right or wrong on this issue, but it is their country, but if you commit a crime in a country where that is the law, well face that you may get that sentence...

i could go on but i think i will be wasting my time...

 

[diegoblunt]

i dunno, my friends in bali take (crap) pills regularly and don't fear the wrath of the law whatsoever. maybe u can only bribe the police if u speak indo.

 

[hoptis]

This morning's updates.

Based on urine tests that show she wasn't under the influence at the time, it's not hard to believe her story that the pills weren't hers. Regardless, I doubt this will be an effective defence.

Model could lose 15 years for pair of pink pills
By Mark Forbes
Indonesia Correspondent
Denpasar
August 23, 2005

AN AUSTRALIAN model, allegedly caught with two ecstasy tablets on the way into a dance party in Bali, is facing up to 15 years in prison.

Michelle Leslie, 24, from Sydney, refused to answer police questions yesterday and appeared distressed.

An intelligence officer from the Bali drug squad, Major Mardiaz Kusin, said police had searched a car carrying Leslie and two friends to a dance party at Bali's GWK park — the site of the first anniversary commemoration of the Bali bombing. Inside her Gucci bag they found two pink tablets wrapped in tissue paper. Major Kusin said one of the model's friends had asked her what she had; Leslie replied that two friends had given the pills to her at dinner.

He said Leslie told her friend she did not know what the tablets were. However, a contradictory police information sheet said that she had bought them in the street for $20 each.

The outdoor party, run by Jakarta nightclub Vertigo, is part of a new trend in Bali's lively nightlife. The all-night parties, popular with both wealthy locals and tourists, are known for their drug use.

Police intelligence had suggested there would be a large amount of drugs at the party, Major Kusin said. Many people escaped arrest, he said, because few cars were searched.

He said the raid was a routine operation and Leslie's car was the subject of a random search. Four Indonesians were also arrested with ecstasy pills during the raid.

He denied that foreigners were being targeted over drug use in Bali, but added: "We apply selective priority because we have limited police officers."

A test of Leslie's urine had not shown any drugs, Major Kusin said. The tablets themselves are still being tested.

The model has been arrested for possessing psychotropic drugs, a charge that carries a minimum term of four years and a maximum of 15. The final sentence is at the judge's discretion, and could amount to months.

Leslie, who has worked for clients including Myer and Antz Pantz underwear, arrived in Bali six days ago. Her arrest follows Schapelle Corby's 20-year conviction for marijuana smuggling and the arrest of nine Australians for allegedly attempting to smuggle heroin from Bali.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Leslie's arrest should serve as a warning to all Australians travelling overseas. "People should understand that if you are going anywhere in Asia you should never have drugs with you — the consequences can be quite dire," he said.

Australian officials have visited Leslie in the Denpasar police cells and are also advising her family in Adelaide, who refused to comment yesterday.

Leslie's questioning is likely to take place today, after she has engaged a lawyer.

A second Australian was also reportedly arrested on drugs charges over the weekend.

Graham Payne, a teacher working in Medan, Sumatra, was arrested allegedly with a small amount of crystal methamphetamine.

He is facing drug possession charges which carry a potential jail term of nine years.

His interrogation was continuing last night.

From The Age

Model could face months in jail
August 22, 2005 - 3:46PM

An Australian model allegedly found with ecstasy during a Bali police dance club sweep would probably face several months in jail if convicted, even though the maximum penalty is 10 years, Indonesian police sources and legal experts said.

Michelle Leslie, 24, was among a group of five people picked up in the early hours of Saturday morning during a raid on a dance party at Kuta's GWK Cultural Park, where the Bali bomb commemoration was held in 2003.

She is alleged to have had one or two ecstasy tablets in her possession.

Police netted 15 ecstasy tablets in the raids and arrested four others - Indonesians aged 26 to 35.

Tests on the drugs were being conducted today.

AFP role

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Australian consul-general had visited Ms Leslie last night, and would ensure she had access to her family and legal representation, he said.

Mr Downer said he had no knowledge of whether Australian Federal Police had been notified in advance of the raid.

If Ms Leslie is charged and is unable to fund her defence, the Australian Government could assist, he said.

He said Ms Leslie's arrest should serve as a warning to all Australians travelling overseas.

"The Indonesian police in Bali are really focussed on trying to stop Bali being used either for the trafficking of drugs, or the use of drugs, and there are substantial undercover operations taking place in Bali,'' Mr Downer told reporters.

"Australians, I would have thought, through the Schapelle Corby case and the Bali nine case, would know that you want to keep drugs right away from places like Indonesia . . . and for that matter, South-East Asia more generally.

"We've got an Australian on death row in Singapore for drug trafficking.

"We've got two Australians and an Australian resident on death row in Vietnam for drug trafficking, we've got the Schapelle Corby case, we've got the Bali nine case."

Top lawyer

Legal experts said Ms Leslie could escape a trial if she secured a top lawyer.

If the matter does reach court, Ms Leslie, who was on holiday in Bali with friends after working in Singapore, will likely face charges of drug possession that carry a maximum jail term of 10 years under tough Indonesian anti-narcotics laws.

But a Bali police source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she would more likely face a punishment similar to another Adelaide person, John Julian Pyle, who earlier this month escaped with a relatively light five-month jail term for using hashish.

Not a user

Ms Leslie's parents told News Limited newspapers their daughter claimed she had a large handbag at the party, in which other people stored their bags.

The drugs were found in a makeup bag, News Limited reported.

Ms Leslie's parents, Albert and Violet Leslie of Adelaide, told News Limited their daughter did not use drugs.

Ms Leslie started full-time modelling at the age of 15 and has worked in a number of high-profile jobs, for clients including Myer and Antz Pantz underwear.

She moved to New York in 2003 to advance her career, returning to Sydney, where she lives with boyfriend Scott Sutton.

Crackdown

Ms Leslie is the latest Australian caught up in a long-running police crackdown on drug use on Bali and across the rest of Indonesia ordered by the new national police chief, General Sutanto, a former head of the country's anti-narcotics board.

She is being held in dingy cells at Bali police headquarters, where alleged heroin smugglers the Bali Nine were held until recently and, before them, convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby.

The cells have only basic washing and toilet facilities, and food-related illnesses are rife.

- AAP with Jesse Hogan

From The Age

I'm innocent, Michelle says
From: By Cindy Wockner in Bali
August 23, 2005

GRIPPED by two police officers, Michelle Leslie sobbed uncontrollably yesterday as the implications of being arrested for allegedly possessing less than $50 worth of drugs in Bali became clear - up to 15 years in prison.

The 24-year-old Adelaide model, who spent her second night in the spartan Bali cell block formerly used to house Schapelle Corby and members of the Bali Nine, claimed two pills alleged to be ecstasy found in her handbag were bought by a friend and put into her bag. Police revealed late yesterday that Leslie's claims were made to a friend in the minutes following her weekend arrest on drugs charges.

In her only public comment, Leslie yesterday said she was OK. When asked if her arrest had been a misunderstanding, she mumbled "uh-huh".

Her parents, who live at Glenelg North, have still been unable to speak to their distraught daughter.

So far Leslie has not appointed a lawyer and has yet to be officially interrogated by police. She is being held as a suspect and police are yet to have forensic tests conducted on the two tablets to determine if they are in fact ecstasy, as alleged.

Major Mardiaz Kusin of the Bali drug squad yesterday said that while Leslie had yet to make any statement to police, they had overheard a conversation between her and a friend at the time they were stopped for a drug search.

"We heard the drug was brought by her friend when they had a meal in Kuta and it was put in her handbag (by her friend)," Major Mardiaz said. He said that during the search, her friend had asked Leslie where the drug came from and that police had overheard the conversation.

He said she had been "quiet" as she was told she would be taken to the police station.

Major Mardiaz said Leslie did not appear to be affected by alcohol at the time and that urine tests for drugs had been negative.

Police said the two pink ecstasy pills which could land Leslie in jail for a lengthy stretch cost less than $50 or about 300,000 Indonesian rupiah. Because the drug was grouped with other hallucinogens such as speed, the maximum sentence was a 15-year jail term.

As soon as Leslie appoints a lawyer, police will conduct formal interrogations, which could begin as early as today.

However, as there is no provision for bail under Indonesian law, she will continue to be held in the police cells until the investigation is complete and she is charged or released.

For a model, Leslie was uncharacteristically camera-shy as the media descended on the Polda police headquarters in Denpasar, where she is being held in a primitive jail cell.

Asked to come out, she appeared once with a white scarf over her face and refused to remove it for police photographers.

Later in the day, she was taken from the cells to an office to meet Australian consular officials. She wore a blue sarong over her head and was reluctant to remove her head-covering.

But several hours later her resolve had crumbled completely and she sobbed as she was taken back to the cell, a sarong still over her head as she struggled blindly to negotiate obstacles and the media throng.

In Bali, Leslie's presence as the newest prisoner in the cells at the Denpasar police headquarters was a source of admiration for local police, who kept looking into the cell and commenting frequently throughout the day at how beautiful or "cantik" she was.

"She's very beautiful, exactly like the photographs," one officer said, referring to her modelling portfolio.

The model, who was on holiday in Bali after finishing a job in Singapore, was arrested about 1.15am on Saturday morning as she and three Indonesian friends drove to a disco party at the GWK park.

Her arrest was part of an ongoing and well-publicised police anti-drugs campaign on the tourist island and across Indonesia, targeting nightclubs and bars where it is known drugs are dealt and used.

Major Mardiaz said that Leslie was with three other people in a car that was stopped for a routine search at the gates of the GWK.

The two ecstasy pills were allegedly found wrapped inside a tissue in Leslie's Gucci handbag.

The other three people with her were not arrested.

But another four unrelated people, all Indonesians, were arrested on the same night with another 13 ecstasy pills. All are being held in the same cell block.

The party was an extension of the hip Vertigo Bar in Jakarta and was attended by some of Indonesia's A-list of stars and actors.

One of the party banners included the words: "Say No to Drugs."

Leslie and three others had checked in to a villa in Seminyak on August 15 and 16 and were due to check out yesterday.

Yesterday, at the Leslie family home in Glenelg North, friends were screening calls and visitors.

"We just want to be respected," a friend said.

The friend thanked the Adelaide public for their support.

She said the Leslies had had no direct contact with their daughter since her arrest. The friend also said Leslie's parents, Albert and Violet, had made no decision yet as to when, or if, they would fly to Bali.

Mrs Leslie said she was in shock that her daughter was facing drug charges.

"I can't believe it," she said.

"She doesn't do that - she doesn't take drugs, not even Panadol, she doesn't even smoke. I'm shaking. I just feel sick at the thought of it."

From News.com.au/Advertiser

The Herald Sun had the same news but a different picture:

 

[ANDO420]

"In the raids, police netted 15 ecstasy tablets and arrested five people, including four locals aged 26 to 35."

wow thats worth it hey 8)

I know ppl that take 15 pills in one night, im sure they would love to catch them

 

[on_the_rise_5]

I was not saying that the dealing or trafficking of drugs is a victimless crime but the end result (users) are reffered to in the same way as prostitution, euthanasia ect. These three crimes are known as victimless crimes as the only person to suffer directly is the person inflicting the damage on themselves, however the sale or illicit substances is what finances a lot of the worlds underworld and their celebrity style lifes, not sure if this makes sence as writing very quickly as i doing an essay on division of powers in Australia while typing this haha, sorry if it is a bit confusing but i will hopefulyl have got my point accross

 

[fuziwuzi]

if it was a male bogon that was caught with eckies, you'ld barely see a report. why do beautiful people get all the attention.

 

[Cowboy Mac]

if it was a male bogon that was caught with eckies, you'ld barely see a report. why do beautiful people get all the attention.

Because the Herald Sun and other shit tabloids see it as a juicy story.

 

[speedygonzales]

If I go to bali I won't touch drugs. not worth it for one night of fun

 

[CuPillar]

some 20 year old australian (possible victorian) got caught with 2000 unknown tablets in indonesia...

it happened yesterday, try to find the news story.... exactly...

 

[on_the_rise_5]

Second Australian facing drugs charges
11:32 AEST Tue Aug 23 2005
AAP
A 20-year-old Adelaide man is being held in Indonesia after police allegedly found a "broad array" of illicit drugs, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has revealed.

The man, a teacher who lives on the island of Sumatra, is being held for questioning and the drugs are undergoing tests, Mr Downer said.

He was identified by News Limited papers as Graham Clifford Payne.

Payne was arrested on Saturday and his parents had already arrived in Indonesia, the newspaper said.

"He apparently lives in Medan, which is in Sumatra, and he was found ... allegedly, with a quantity of drugs and that's now being investigated by the police," Mr Downer told ABC radio.

"He is being detained while that investigation takes place and if the investigation proves that these really are drugs then they'll charge him."



He is the second Australian to be arrested in Indonesia at the weekend on suspicion of drug offences.

Model Michelle Leslie - who is also Adelaide-born - is in custody while police test two tablets allegedly found in her possession at a Bali party.

Mr Downer said Australian authorities had been asked not to identify the drugs the man was allegedly found to have.

"We've been asked not to say at this stage but it is not just a question of ... tablets," he said.

"It is a broader array of drugs - at least allegedly, we don't know."

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said the Australian Honorary Consul in Medan was making arrangements to visit Payne to offer consular assistance.

News Limited papers said he was arrested after Indonesian police allegedly found him with four syringes and 2,126 assorted pills

Under Indonesia's tough drug laws, a person found guilty of narcotics possession faces up to 10 years in jail. A conviction for distribution of drugs carries the death penalty.

Meanwhile, tests are being carried out to determine if two tablets allegedly found in Leslie's possession in Bali are illicit drugs.

She was arrested during an undercover Bali police operation on Saturday at the GW Cultural Park near Kuta.

The Australian government says the 24-year-old, who works under the name of Michelle Lee, could face 10 years in jail if convicted.

"She was found carrying ecstasy, and so we detained her," said Inspector Bambang Sugiharto, from the police narcotics division on Bali island.

Source http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=58625

 

[on_the_rise_5]

2126 is a lot of pills whateva they were!! i dont think this guy has much of a chance at saying they were all for personal use!

 

[MooShiE]

I think the laws in Indo are overly harsh. They are quiet over the top. I mean we are living in the 21st Century after all!

For 2 pills, a jail term to me seems rather ridiculous.

I hope she gets out of it.

I, am never going to Indo myself now. Not ever.. too many things can go wrong and I dont want to be the next Schapelle.

Edit : my typo!!! doh

 

[hoptis]

Looks like Enlighten was able to ship out the Marquis tester to the Indonesian government in record time.

Tests show pills in model's bag are ecstasy
August 23, 2005 - 5:09PM

Tests have confirmed that two tablets found in the handbag of Australian model Michelle Leslie were ecstasy, senior Indonesian police said today.

The results of the laboratory tests were announced at a news conference in Bali by National Police Chief Sutanto and the island's drug squad chief Bambang Sugiarto.

Sutanto said he would send details of the tests to the Australian Federal Police.

Hours earlier Leslie hired a Bali lawyer with a strong record of helping foreigners to take her case.

Mohammad Rifan - who is also defending some of the Bali nine - met Leslie, 24, today at Bali's police headquarters.

"She hasn't been interrogated yet, so I have not set a strategy," Rifan said. "We are waiting for the police investigation to start."

If charges are laid and she's convicted, Adelaide-born Leslie could face a maximum of 15 years in jail, though a prison term of a few months is more likely for such a small amount of drugs.

Rifan recently scored well in court by securing short jail terms for two other Australian clients.

Last month he represented Adelaide man John Julian Pyle who received a mild five-month jail sentence for possession of a small amount of hashish following a police operation in the Bali mountain resort of Ubud.

Early this year, Rifan led the case for champion yachtsman Christopher Packer who spent three months in jail for illegally bringing firearms into Indonesia on his boat.

- AAP

From The Age/AAP

 

[hoptis]

Some interesting reading around the papers this morning. Especially the two comment pieces (article 2 & 3)

We won't bail you out, Howard warns users
By Michelle Grattan
Canberra
and Mark Forbes
Denpasar
August 24, 2005

JOHN Howard last night delivered a blunt warning to Australians who get caught with drugs in Asian countries - don't expect the Government to bail you out.

The Prime Minister's declaration came as lawyers for Michelle Leslie, the Australian model arrested in Bali for possessing ecstasy, said they hoped police would downgrade her charges but admitted she could face many years behind bars.

Indonesian police said a second Australian, Graham Clifford Payne, was arrested at the weekend in Medan, on the island of Sumatra, and will be charged with at least two counts of drug possession after his urine tested positive to amphetamines and heroin. The 21-year-old Adelaide teacher, is still undergoing questioning.

The two drug charges carry maximum terms of 12 and five years. Although police said they found thousands of tablets in Mr Payne's house, many were common medications and it was unclear whether he could face more serious manufacturing or trafficking charges.

Mr Howard said if the allegations against Payne and Leslie were true "it's beyond belief that any Australian could be so stupid as to carry drugs into any country in Asia".

He said the laws in these countries were - "ferociously precise".

"That's been the case for decades. We have told Australians, young Australians, again and again, don't take drugs out of this country, don't take them into Asian countries because you can't expect any mercy."

The Government would keep pushing the message. "But people have to understand that if they defy that, and they get caught with drugs, they can't expect the Government to bail them out.

"If foreigners come to this country and break our laws, our people don't think we should hand them back to the countries from whence they came. They think they should be punished in this country and jailed in this country, and Australians have got to understand that."

In Bali, drug squad chief Bambang Sugiarto said a car carrying 24-year-old Leslie and two friends was subjected to a random search when entering an all-night dance party in Bali on Saturday and two pink pills, wrapped in tissue, were found in her bag.

"She said the pills were her friends', but we don't know who her friends are, but it's not an official statement yet," he said.

"We have to follow the law - especially if they are caught red-handed," Colonel Sugiarto said. He said Leslie had not claimed the drugs were planted in her bag, nor admitted buying them.

A second officer, Major Mardiaz Kusin, also said reports of the claims were incorrect.

Visiting the island yesterday, Indonesian Police Commissioner Sutanto congratulated his men on the arrest. "We won't let Bali be used as a place for drugs for both locals and foreigners."

Ms Leslie's interrogation began late yesterday after she appointed an Indonesian lawyer, Muhammad Rifan - who also represents five of the "Bali nine" accused of heroin smuggling.

Mr Rifan said Ms Leslie was charged with offences that carried a maximum 15-year jail sentence, but could instead be charged under a law relating to possession with a maximum five-year penalty at the discretion of police.

Leslie's Australian lawyer, Ross Hill, said he had spoken to her before leaving for Bali yesterday. He said "she's holding up as best as she can" in the circumstances.

Leslie, whose urine tested negative for drugs, was still being interrogated last night. Earlier, she was visited by friends, family, and her Sydney boyfriend, Scott Sutton — reported to be the heir to a $200 million car dealership fortune.

Her parents are expected in Bali shortly.

In Medan, drug squad chief Irwan Amwar said police had followed Payne for three days after a tip off.
NABBED AUSTRALIANS

THE BALI NINE
- Renae Lawrence, 27, Martin Stephens, 29, Scott Rush, 19, Michael Czugaj, 19, Andrew Chan, 21, Matthew James Norman, 18, Si yi Chen, 20, Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, 27, and Myuran Sukumaran, 24, are on heroin charges and face the death penalty. Trials due to start soon.

MICHELLE LESLIE
- Police allege the 24-year-old Adelaide model was caught last weekend with two ecstasy tablets. Could face 15 years' jail if convicted.

GRAHAM CLIFFORD PAYNE
- The 20-year-old English teacher was allegedly caught last weekend in possession of four syringes and more than 2000 assorted pills on the island of Sumatra. Awaiting results of tests on the pills. Could face the death sentence if convicted.

SCHAPELLE CORBY
- Sentenced to 20 years' jail for allegedly possessing 4.1 kilograms of marijuana. High Court appeal pending. Could have faced the death penalty.

JOHN JULIAN PYLE
- The 42-year-old Adelaide computer expert was convicted last week of possessing 1.8 grams of hashish at his home in Bali's hill resort of Ubud. Sentenced five months in jail, but could have faced four years in prison.

RICHARD JONATHON WARDILL
- The 27-year-old Darwin man was jailed for eight months in February for allegedly possessing four ecstasy pills on the island of Batam. Could have faced six years' jail.

COMPILED BY LINDSAY MURDOCH

From The Age

A game of chance for rave fans willing to risk all
By Jano Gibson and Lindsay Murdoch
August 24, 2005

MOST Australians know it as the place where thousands of mourners gathered in Bali to mark the first anniversary of the bombings that killed 202 people.

But the Garuda Wisnu cultural park, with its spectacular limestone cliffs, is also a dance party venue catering for as many as 10,000 all-night revellers.

Australian model Michelle Leslie was on her way there on Friday night. But her car was intercepted by police and she never made it.

If Leslie is found guilty of possessing ecstasy, she would have ignored a very public crackdown by the Indonesian Government and warnings from the Australian Government about using drugs in Asia.

Although thousands of young Australians have travelled each year to attend raves at exotic locations such as Bali and Thailand's Pha Ngan island, the risks of taking drugs at such parties have increased dramatically.

Two years ago, Thai police launched a brutal crackdown on drug use in the country that had been a destination for drug-using backpackers for decades.

Scores of Thai traffickers were mysteriously shot dead and hundreds of foreigners were jailed, fined and deported.

The deaths of seven people, including two Australians, on an overcrowded boat that capsized returning from Pha Ngan in January also tarnished the reputation of Thai resorts as the place for drug-fuelled rave parties.

Asian tour operators say many tourists have instead turned in droves to new rave destinations like Sihanoukville in Cambodia.

This year Indonesian police, on the orders of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, began a crackdown that has led to charges against hundreds of drug users and traffickers.

Keith Loveard, director of information services for Jakarta-based security company Concord Consulting, said yesterday the crackdown was the most intensive in Indonesia's history.

"The Yudhoyono Government has taken the moral high ground on drugs and gambling," Mr Loveard said. "Anybody who comes to Indonesia to take drugs or gamble runs the real risk of going to jail for a very long time."

Mr Loveard said police were now regularly raiding nightspots across the country, asking for urine samples. People found to have taken illegal drugs are arrested, charged and jailed.

But Leslie's arrest and the police crackdown are not expected to curtail Bali's raves.

From The Age

Drugs and Bali don't mix
Comment by Luke McIlveen
August 24, 2005

GO TO Bali, get into drugs and you stand every chance of spending your best years in a filthy, dank prison cell.

It's a simple equation but young Australians appear to be having trouble grasping the brutal reality.

They should have been shocked by the sight of Schapelle Corby being led away in chains and later howling in disbelief as her 20-year sentence was handed down.

If further evidence was needed that Bali is not the place to take, distribute or handle drugs, nine young Australians followed Corby's dead-end path and now face the firing squad.

The arrest of model Michelle Leslie for possession of ecstasy is just the latest in the flood of young Australians busted in a country that punishes drug runners more severely than terrorists.

Leslie has not been charged and deserves the presumption of innocence. The 24-year-old has every right to claim the drugs were not hers and she may be guilty of nothing more than allowing a "friend" to plant ecstasy tablets in her handbag.

Whatever the case, even hardline anti-drug campaigners will have a hard time justifying the 10 to 15 years she may receive if convicted. In NSW, 25 years for murder is deemed sufficient.

Like hundreds of others cramming into Kuta's GWK park last weekend, she was there for a rave party to mark the full moon.

The party invitation advised a 9pm start at a location inside the sprawling complex known as the Lotus Pond. GWK park was also the site of the memorial service for the 88 Australians killed in the 2002 Bali bombings.

As a regular on the Sydney fashion circuit, Leslie would have been aware of the general outcome when pulsing music and hundreds of young people come together, particularly in a country awash with cheap drugs.

Sydney police will tell you raves are mostly tranquil places, if only because the kids who gather at them are high on ecstasy, a drug that causes people to randomly hug and kiss rather than fight.

In Australia, you'd be unlucky to get caught with a tiny tablet but the foreigners streaming through the gates of the park were easy prey for local police.

Leslie's distraught mother Violet this week spoke of how she had warned her daughter to keep away from Bali, understandably spooked by recent events.

"I've been telling her 'don't go to Bali.' Not that she was going to do anything stupid but she's a young, attractive girl and you don't know what people around her may do," Mrs Leslie said.

Her desperate plea had a familiar ring. When Robert Lawrence first heard his daughter Renae had been caught trying to smuggle heroin out of Bali, he was adamant that she must have been duped into taking part.

"She wouldn't do it off her own bat. She is silly. She has been set up here," a disbelieving Mr Lawrence said shortly after her arrest.

"She is one of the most gullible kids you would ever meet."

Lawrence might have been naive to believe she could smuggle packs of heroin under a tracksuit in the height of summer, but she was hardly ignorant to the ways of the world.

Her lesbian relationship with a mother-of-three changed the public's view, as did later claims that she may have made up to three trips in the Bali Nine's doomed attempt to run heroin between Denpasar and Sydney.

Since her arrest, Lawrence has become a model of stupidity to hordes of young Australians who head overseas each year.

The public outrage in the weeks after the Corby verdict should have hit the Bali tourism industry where it hurt, but it appears to have had the opposite effect.

The memory of the Sari Club and the draconian sentence handed down to Schapelle Corby has done little to turn holidaymakers off an island in a country of which the severe penal system belies its laid-back reputation.

In 2004, a record 267,520 Australians flew to Bali. The number of Australians seeking sun and surf in Kuta jumped by 7 per cent in the first three months of 2005, prompting Garuda Indonesia to offer an extra flight out of Sydney.

Hours after Michelle Leslie was hauled in for questioning, Adelaide man Graham Clifford Payne, 20, was arrested for possession of four syringes and more than 2000 pills.

Payne, like Leslie, is not a no-hoper. He is an Adelaide schoolteacher in the prime of his life.

Bali offered generations of Australians their first overseas experience at a fraction of the price of a trip to London or New York.

Kuta Beach, exotic markets and endless supplies of frosty, cheap Bintang. These used to be the attractions. Now it's cheap amphetamines and cannabis.

And, for too many young Australians, the package deal includes an involuntary tour of Indonesia's Dickensian prison system.

From News.com.au/Daily Telegraph

Michelle's terrified call to parents
By Luke McIlveen

August 24, 2005

FRIGHTENED and alone in a Bali cell, Sydney model Michelle Leslie yesterday spoke to her parents for the first time since her arrest, saying: "I'm terrified."

Indonesian police last night started interrogating Leslie about two ecstasy tablets allegedly found in her handbag at the weekend.

Her lawyer Mohammed Rifan said so far police had asked Leslie about 20 to 30 questions, but the interrogation had not yet touched on how the two pink tablets came to be in her handbag.

Mr Rifan said the questioning was preliminary and that the bulk of the interview would be conducted today.

The tearful call to her family came as Sydney lawyer Ross Hill prepared to fly to Bali this morning to help Leslie try and beat drug charges which could see her jailed for up to 15 years.

Albert and Violet Leslie yesterday spoke to their daughter for the first time since her arrest at a dance party in Kuta.

A family spokesman said last night that 24-year-old Leslie, who models under the name Michelle Lee, described her squalid conditions and told her parents to ignore statements being made by Indonesian police about her guilt.

"She just said what we already know about Bali jails, that it was appalling," the spokesman said.

"Michelle basically said 'I'm terrified, I'm frightened'."

Leslie then rang her millionaire boyfriend Scott Sutton, heir to the Suttons Holden empire.

She was allowed to make several calls back home from an office at the Polda police headquarters in Denpasar.

"I've spoken to Ms Leslie directly and she is holding up as best she can in the circumstances," Mr Hill said yesterday.

From News.com.au/Daily Telegraph

Details revealed of teacher's arrest
By Edith Bevin

August 24, 2005

ADELAIDE teacher Graham Payne faces death by firing squad if Indonesian police prove he has been involved in the manufacture and sale of amphetamines.

Payne, 20, a former student at Prince Alfred College and Pembroke, is facing two drug charges of possessing methamphetamine and possessing heroin.

The Advertiser has been told Payne was arrested in a Medan street on Saturday night after Indonesian police saw him with a known drug dealer.

Police then searched his home in the affluent and upmarket Tasbi housing complex.

Inside the home they found five syringes, one with "traces of heroin", 0.1g of methamphetamine and about 2000 ephedrine tablets.

It is believed tests carried out on Payne on the orders of police showed high quantities of heroin in his system.

Police said Payne, who was wearing a long-sleeved shirt when arrested, had marks from injections on his arms.

"He is very cheerful and in very good spirits - almost cocky," one police officer told The Advertiser. An assortment of more than 200 other tablets found in Payne's home are also being tested by police.

Ephedrine, a precursor in the manufacture of amphetamines, is not illegal in Indonesia.

Possession of heroin and amphetamines carries a minimum sentence of one day in jail and a maximum of 10 years.

"It depends on whether the judge sees it as a small amount of drugs . . . but with 2000 ephedrine tablets as well he's obviously a druggie," the police source said.

Payne will be held in police custody until he is formally charged and appears in court, a process which can take months in Sumatra.

Payne had been on the main Indonesian island for six weeks and police have told The Advertiser they are now investigating how he spent that time and who he associated with. Payne was supposed to begin work as a teacher in a Medan English language school this week. His father, Robert Payne, flew from Adelaide to Medan on Sunday.

Mr Payne saw his son in a police cell yesterday for the first time since the arrest.

Payne's mother, Kaaren, an Adelaide company director, is believed to be on her way to Sumatra to join her former husband by their son's side.

Payne is the youngest of three boys. His brother, Geoffrey, died in April this year.

A spokeswoman for Pembroke School said Payne was a student "for only a short time".

He is the third South Australian to be arrested in Indonesia in six months. John Julian Pyle, 42, was arrested in May in Ubud, Bali, and charged with possessing 1.8 grams of hashish. Pyle was sentenced to five months jail in August.

Adelaide-born international model Michelle Leslie, 24, was arrested in Bali on Saturday night after she was found with two ecstasy tablets in her bag during a police raid on a dance party in Kuta.

Commenting on the Leslie and Payne cases, Prime Minister John Howard yesterday said any Australian who carries drugs in Asia could not expect the Government to bail them out.

"It's beyond belief that any Australian could be so stupid as to carry drugs into any country in Asia," Mr Howard said. "The laws in these countries are black and white, they're severe, they're ferociously precise, that's been the case for decades.

"We have told Australians - young Australians - again and again, don't take drugs out of this country, don't take them into Asian countries because you can't expect any mercy."

Premier Mike Rann said anyone who took drugs to Bali was "really stupid".

From News.com.au/Advertiser

 

[aunty establishment]

I think the laws in Indo are overly harsh. They are quiet over the top. I mean we are living in the 20th Century after all!

Heh heh heh

 

[Fry-d-]

It will be louder when we go back to the future

Interesting with all these Australians getting busted with small amounts of drugs people are saying that we are being targeted with these new strict on drugs laws. Problem with that is these countries have always been strict on drugs and apparently more people from other countries are being caught than just Aussies but the media is being heavily biased and ignoring the other busts.

But really you have to be stupid to get caught with drugs in these countries knowing the laws and penalties that are applied. If you going to do it you have to be very very careful.

 

[Cheshire Cat ^..^]

God, when will people learn? If you want to roll, roll in Australia. Or Hawaii. Or Japan. Or India. Or Europe. Or US. Or Brazil. Or Israel. But why the f*** to roll in Indonesia?!?!?!

If the pills were her she's almost stupid enough to deserve it. If they weren't - well, that's a bloody shame and something should be done about it.

But in either case Indonesia is a f***ed country which won't see my foot unless I'm passing through. And so is Malaysa. And Burma. And China. And Laos. And other f***ed up countries like that.

 

[my innerself]

poll: Do you have sympathy for Australians caught overseas with recreational drugs?

I truly cannot beleive the amount of people who picked no in this poll. I can understand not having sympathy for the bali 9 who tried to smuggle 8-10 kilos of smack into the country, they would have known the consequences. But to feel no sympathy for people who got caught with a small amount of recreational drugs for their own personal use who possibly face up too 10 to 15 years locked up in a cage is just ludicrous.

EDIT: for some reason I cant create a shortcut to the poll, but you will find it in the centre of the page here -

http://ninemsn.com.au/

if someone can create a shortcut to this poll and post it, it would be muchly appreciated.