Accused Australian drug trafficker Michael Sacatides says he is living a 'nightmare'

Australian Michael Sacatides, 43,
facing his first trial at Denpasar District Court
in Bali, Monday, December 20, 2010

AUSTRALIAN man Michael Sacatides, who appeared in a Bali court where he faces the death penalty, maintains the drugs in his bag are not his and has told his lawyer he is living a "nightmare".

Looking serious and grim, the 43-year-old Sydney man, appeared in Denpasar District Court, where prosecutors outlined the allegations against him and reaffirmed he is facing a charge of drug trafficking which carries the death penalty as the maximum.

Sacatides, a kickboxing instructor who was living in Thailand, has told police that he travelled to Bali to renew his visa on October 1 this year and that he had borrowed a suitcase from an Indian friend of two years known as Peter.

When he arrived in Bali a Customs x-ray and subsequent search of the suitcase found 1.7kg of methamphetamine secreted inside the lining of the suitcase.

Sacatides has maintained from day one that he had no idea the drugs were in the bag and that he is innocent.

Sacatides made no comment as he was lead from the prison truck to the court's holding cells but later, before court began, his lawyer Erwin Siregar described the Australian as a "victim".

Mr Siregar said that ever since his arrest that Sacatides had been telling him "Erwin I am innocent, I am not guilty, I don't know about this'.

"He is only a victim," Mr Siregar said of his client.He said Sacatides had told him: "This is unjustice (sic), I am not make the mistake, the drug is not belong to me and I don't know about this. This is like a nightmare."

Mr Siregar was Schapelle Corby's initial lawyer at trial.

Asked yesterday about the defence of not knowing the drugs were in the bag and about the chances of success this time, given Corby's guilty verdict and 20-year sentence, Mr Siregar admitted that the Indonesian drugs law was harsh for those with drugs found in their luggage and with no explanation.

But he said "every case is different".

Mr Siregar, who is being funded by Australian legal aid, said his client intends fighting the case at every level and will call a criminologist from Australia to testify about the characteristics of a drug trafficker.

He said the defence also had an Australian-based lawyer working with them to hunt down the Indian owner of the suitcase.

Sacatides has told police the man is Akaleshi Tripathi, alias Peter and that he had known him for two and a half years since Peter had worked as a tailor making clothes for Sacatides.

"When we were having lunch I told Peter that I am going to go to Bali to renew my visa, then he suggested to me to borrow his suitcase and I agreed with it because I don't have suitcase to bring to Bali," Sacatides told police in his interrogation statement.

"The handing over of the suitcase was on 30 September 2010 in an apartment in Bangkok. I went to that apartment by taxi, then a security guy at that apartment gave me a suitcase, Action brand, as I was told by Peter to pick up that suitcase in the apartment. When I received that suitcase it was empty then I brought to my apartment ... I don't know about the drugs because I was never involved in this case. And I don't know what the purpose is to keep or hide the goods in the suitcase lining."

It is unclear whether the details of the Indian man have been passed to Interpol and whether any attempt has been made to track him down. Sacatides was coming to Bali for four days to renew his visa for Thailand and said he borrowed the suitcase because he didn't have one of his own.

However police allege he had very little clothes inside.

Sacatides faces two charges.

The first or primary charge, under article 113 of Indonesia's narcotics laws, is of drug importation which carries a maximum death sentence or life with a minimum term of five year, for those caught with more five grams of type one narcotics.

The secondary charge of drug possession or supply, under article 112, carries a minimum term of five years and a maximum term of life.

Yesterday in court, where Sacatides was not required to enter a plea or make any statement, prosecutor Agung Atmaja read out a four-page indictment or list of allegations which listed the series of events leading to Sacatides' arrest on October 1 this year.

But Mr Siregar said he was optimistic that Sacatides would not get the death penalty and he did not talk with his client about the death sentence.

The case was adjourned until January 5 when Mr Siregar will make an objection or exception to the charges - the equivalent of a not guilty plea.

Source: The Daily Telegraph, December 20, 2010

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