Alleged smuggler Michael Sacatides from Sydney is facing a maximum 16 years behind bars in Bali

Prosecutors asked yesterday that an accused Australian drug smuggler be sentenced to 16 years in prison, a sign that Indonesian authorities are softening their attitudes to the death penalty. Michael Sacatides (pictured), who was caught with 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine in his luggage at Bali airport in October, was eligible to receive the death sentence if convicted. But following an instruction from the Attorney-General's office in Jakarta, prosecutors opted for a sentence request that was lighter than the prison terms given to the Australians who formed the so-called Bali nine heroin syndicate, or to the cannabis smuggler Schapelle Corby.

There was clearly deliberation in Jakarta before the request was made. The hearing yesterday was delayed twice as government lawyers pondered the decision.

The outcome is a positive development for Scott Rush, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who are on death row in Bali and have their final appeals before the Supreme Court.

''It's encouraging,'' said Todung Mulya Lubis, a campaigner against the death penalty and the lawyer for Chan and Sukumaran. ''It means that the government may think that the death penalty is not the solution … that it won't deter people from drug trafficking.''

The decision will provide little comfort for Mr Sacatides, a martial arts instructor from western Sydney who maintains his innocence and was expressionless during proceedings yesterday.

His defence is that the drugs were planted in his luggage by an associate who owed him money and knew he was travelling from Bangkok to Bali.

Methamphetamine, which is also known as ice or shabu shabu, is considered a category one drug in Indonesia and the death penalty can apply for the importation of as little as 5 grams.

The prosecutor, Gusti Putu Atmaja, said the government had taken into account Mr Sacatides's lack of criminal record when making the request. ''This request is per Jakarta's guidance,'' he said.

After a flurry of executions, Indonesia has not put anyone before a firing squad since the Bali bombers Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra 2½ years ago. A Constitutional Court decision in 2008 upholding the legality of the death penalty also ruled it should be used sparingly and that those sentenced to death should be given the opportunity to repent and have their sentences commuted to prison terms.

In the past year, Indonesia has also begun a campaign for clemency for more than 100 of its citizens on death row in Malaysia.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald, April 13, 2011

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