Would he better off with a caning as punishment?

[liberty]

If this kid goes to an adult Prison for six years he is going to be a screwed up man by the Time he gets out.

Would he better off with a caning as punishment?

So, Rub and Scoot you don’t think he will be raped in prison. Six years is a long time with a lot opportunity for bad stuff to happen.

Could Indonesia be producing a psychopath to send home to Australia?


________________________________________________________________________

http://news.yahoo.com/australia-gives-p ... 52553.html

..CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia has given top priority to securing the return of a 14-year-old boy arrested in Indonesia for alleged marijuana possession in a challenging case that will require patience to resolve, the foreign minister said Friday.

The boy, whose name has been published in the media but not yet officially released, has been held at Denpasar police headquarters on the tourist island of Bali since he was arrested Tuesday after allegedly buying a small quantity of marijuana from a man on Kuta Beach.

His lawyer, Muhammad Rifan, said the boy faces a maximum sentence of six years in an adult prison if convicted of possessing a quarter of an ounce (7 grams) of marijuana, which under Indonesian law is treated the same as heroin or cocaine.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said he told Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Greg Moriarty, to go to Denpasar and give the case top priority.

"My job as foreign minister is to do everything possible to get this little bloke home," Rudd told radio station 3AW in the southern city of Melbourne.

"There are real challenges that we face here, and I think we've all got to be patient," he said. "This is going to take some time."

Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the boy's incarceration as "an incredibly distressing circumstance." She said the boy was being held apart from other prisoners.

The boy, from Morrisset Park, north of Sydney, was on vacation with his parents when he was arrested.

Rudd said the boy's parents had taken turns to spend Thursday night with their son at the police jail. Rudd declined to comment on the boy's condition.

Rifan said the boy was angry, crying and depressed in custody. He can be held for 30 days without charge.

The arresting police officers broke Indonesian rules for dealing with child suspects by not allowing the boy's parents to be present during his interview, Rifan said.

Because of this, police agreed to re-interview the boy Friday and have him take a new urine test for drugs.

Julian McMahon, a Melbourne lawyer representing two Australians on death row in Bali for smuggling heroin in 2005, said the boy need not fear the maximum six-year sentence.

"He would get nothing like that. He would get some months, you would expect, if he had to go to jail at all," McMahon told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Rifan said the boy could avoid a prison term if he could prove he had a drug addiction for which he had been receiving counseling in Australia.

Australian media have reported the boy is the youngest Australian to be arrested under Indonesia's tough drug laws.

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported Friday that the boy told police he bought the marijuana for 250,000 rupiah ($28) because he felt sorry for the alleged dealer who said he had not eaten for a day.

McMahon said most foreigners are arrested in these circumstances when they buy drugs from police informants.

Indonesia has some of the world's strictest drug laws and people convicted of smuggling or possessing drugs are often executed by firing squad. More than 140 prisoners are on death row in Indonesia, including more than 50 foreigners.

..

[Gob]

He's being punished for stupidity, teh normal stupidity of a 14 year old on holiday.

The tough stance on drugs in Indonesia is not unknown in Aus. (see the Schappelle Corby case.)

He was probably thinking he could get away with acting the way he does at home, he's about to learn a lesson, a very hard one.

My stance on drugs is well known here, but believing that drugs should be legalised here, does not mean that the drug laws in other countries should be ignored.

[Sean]

I think he'll probably spend a couple or three of nights in prison to teach him a lesson before being let go. Hopefully his taste of a Balinese prison will stop him doing a Shapelle in a few years.

[The Hen]

I don't hold your optimism Sean.

I reckon sorting out this diplomatic shit fight will take quite a bit longer than a few days.

[Gob]

THE 14-year-old NSW boy arrested for alleged possession of cannabis in Bali boasted about his purchase, waving a small bag of the drugs in front of local shopkeepers and massage therapists before police pounced on him, witnesses say.

Accounts of the teenager's skylarking come from the owner and staff of the Komang Beauty Salon and Spa.

Some of them revealed yesterday they were aware police intelligence officers were waiting outside. They did not warn the teenager from the Newcastle area of their presence.
Last Tuesday, the boy and a 13-year-old friend went to the massage parlour for treatments.

''When he took off his clothes and was getting ready for the massage, he also emptied his pocket pants. He took out a lighter and a small plastic bag,'' said his massage therapist, who asked not to be named.

''He showed me the plastic bag and said, 'Do you know what that is?' I said, 'No', then [he] put his finger in front of his lips and said, 'Ssshhh, don't tell anyone.'''

Before the massage, the boy had been waving around the plastic bag with the cannabis outside the shop, located in an alley off bustling Jalan Padma in Kuta, said the salon owner, Komang Ani.

He said the boy showed the bag to other shopkeepers in the area.

''The shop owner asked [the boy] where he got it. He said 'Kuta.' Then he also said, ''This is fake, do you know where I can get the real one?''

Shopkeepers believe the intelligence police were on to the boy well before he brandished the drugs.

While they were having massages, an older man, possibly in his 50s, was mistakenly apprehended by the four undercover officers after he left the same salon.

Soon after, one of the officers went into the salon to check up on the boys.

''The intel asked, 'How long for the massage?' I told them it was an hour but, at the time, I didn't know it was an intel,'' said Santi, another salon worker.

''I thought he wanted 'plus, plus' or something,'' she added, referring to the slang for sex services.

Ms Ani said the boy, a regular customer, was always polite and friendly.

''I felt sick and worried when I saw the intels [police intelligence officer] but I didn't know it was for my customers,'' she said. ''I would have told them not to be stupid.''

Ms Ani had a simple message for people coming to Bali. ''Don't use, don't buy. Just say 'No, thank you' if someone offers you something.''

Kit Cartwright, 32, from Melbourne, was in the massage salon with the teenagers on Tuesday. She did not see the alleged drugs or the arrest but said they were ''quiet and pleasant boys''.

''They were really respectful to the girls here,'' she added.

The boy's friend was taken by the police in a taxi but released soon after.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/teen-arrest ... z1aExp4lWp

WTF were his parents doing at this time?

[The Hen]

Obviously the parents were just letting their boy run wild.

What a serious lack of judgement on all parties involved. I hope his parents HAD told him of the consequences of being caught with drugs. If not, then they were completely ignoring their parental duties.

I am guessing that his parents were probably holed up poolside with unlimited cocktails to consume.

This level of lack of parental interest is wide-spread in many families today.

Thank God not in ours.

[liberty]

WTF were his parents doing at this time?

How well known in Australia are the harsh Indonesian drugs laws. Do the parents have any excuse at all?

I am somewhat conflicted on this. The boy needs to learn respect for the law, especially the laws of other countries. To go to someone else’s country and flaunt their laws is the worse kind arrogance. But if the kid goes to an adult prison in a third world country and is placed in the general population, I fear he will never recover.

What if the authorities in Indonesia offered the parents the option of the boy receiving a sever butt whippy(caning) in lieu of prison, would you advise the parents to accept the offer? What would I do; I don’t know.

I don’t know if it is true or not, but I read that two Australians serving prison terms in Indonesia intentionally gave themselves HIV in order to get a humanitarian release. If that is true it must be pretty bad in their prisons.

[Sean]

WTF were his parents doing at this time?

How well known in Australia are the harsh Indonesian drugs laws. Do the parents have any excuse at all?

There have been a few very high profile cases of Australians caught trafficking drugs in Indonesia in the past six or seven years. If his parents are unaware of their drug laws then they have been living under a rock!

[Gob]

The boy, from the central coast, has access to his parents' mobile phones and is communicating with friends and family using Facebook, reportedly posting on the social network site that he ''probably'' would not go to prison.

His legal team are hoping he may be released under article 128 of Indonesia's drug laws, which allows for those caught with small amounts of drugs to be released if they can prove they are an addict, generally defined as a frequent user of drugs.

''It's possible if the parents declared his condition [as an addict] before,'' his lawyer Muhammad Rifan said.

''The court can make that decision and return the boy to his parents' care to continue his rehabilitation.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/lawyer-p ... z1aJuA0Hi4

Addict???

[Lord Jim]

His legal team are hoping he may be released under article 128 of Indonesia's drug laws, which allows for those caught with small amounts of drugs to be released if they can prove they are an addict, generally defined as a frequent user of drugs.

Okay, so let me see if I've got this straight....

The way to avoid draconian punishment under Indonesian drug laws, is to prove that you use them a lot.... If it was your first time, or you only use them on rare occasions, into the stripey hole you go....



That would be like:

"Yes your honor, my client was driving drunk, but you should let him off because he's an habitual alcoholic; he does it all the time"....

I would also imagine that "his legal team are hoping" that this moron stops chattering away on Facebook, where he could easily say something that would piss off the Indonesian authorities, (good judgement not exactly having been a defining characteristic of the lad's behavior up till now) and make his situation even worse...

[BoSoxGal]

Recognizing compulsion of an addict under law is not uncommon.

I read some about that Corby case, which given the amount of marijuana she was trafficking, the sentence is a lot more understandable in a country with stringent drug laws.

But 6.9 grams of marijuana?!? What is that, two small bowls' worth? For those unfamiliar with marijuana, that is a minuscule amount, really.

The kid is an idiot and moreso the parents, given the widespread knowledge of Indonesian drug laws in Australia, to be sure.

A mess all around. I can imagine that the issue of so many Indonesian youth in custody in Australia will complicate negotiations.

[Gob]

No such thing as a cannabis "addict" though, is there?

[The Hen]

This is just getting worse and worse.

Part of me now wants him to do a limited stretch of time to teach him to stop taking the piss in such circumstances.

I will now open a book on this not being this kids only run in with the law during his life.

6.9 grams of dope is around a quarter of an ounce, BSG. All I can say is you've been using HUGE bowls.

[Lord Jim]

6.9 grams of dope is around a quarter of an ounce, BSG. All I can say is you've been using HUGE bowls.

I was thinking the same thing...

[BoSoxGal]

Oops! I wasn't processing the maths right. Must've been the last bowl I packed.

I dunno, our chemical dependency evaluations are regularly finding defendants 'cannabis dependent'.

Here in Montana less than 60 grams is a misdemeanor offense, entitled to be wiped off the record if 6 mo. probation is completed successfully (for 1st offense) and subject to maximum $500 fine, but usually $150.

Six years for 6 grams (and I can't figure how much it was because the press is also quoting half that amount) is seriously harsh. How many pounds did Corby have to get less than 4x the sentence?

[The Hen]

Six years for 6 grams (and I can't figure how much it was because the press is also quoting half that amount) is seriously harsh. How many pounds did Corby have to get less than 4x the sentence?

9.3 pounds.

[BoSoxGal]

That's a LOT, and obviously indicates possession with intent.

1/8-1/4 ounce is personal use. 6 years for that is harsh.

Note to self: choose Jamaica over Bali if looking for a 'mellow' vacation.

[Gob]

THE family of the 14-year-old boy on drug charges in Bali has sealed a six-figure deal with Nine Entertainment to tell the story of his arrest and trial.

Sources told The Sun-Herald last night that the deal, worth between $200,000 and $300,000, includes coverage across 60 Minutes, Nine News, and Nine Entertainment's ACP magazines. Nine's managing director, Jeffrey Browne, finalised the deal and it was signed off by the chief executive, David Gyngell. A source confirmed a 60 Minutes team may fly to Bali on Wednesday to film some colour for an interview with the boy and his family – in anticipation that he will be released on Friday.

The celebrity publicist Grant Vandenberg managed the deal, that was signed on Thursday.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv- ... z1csmQhief

This is fucking sick.

[liberty]

THE family of the 14-year-old boy on drug charges in Bali has sealed a six-figure deal with Nine Entertainment to tell the story of his arrest and trial.

Sources told The Sun-Herald last night that the deal, worth between $200,000 and $300,000, includes coverage across 60 Minutes, Nine News, and Nine Entertainment's ACP magazines. Nine's managing director, Jeffrey Browne, finalised the deal and it was signed off by the chief executive, David Gyngell. A source confirmed a 60 Minutes team may fly to Bali on Wednesday to film some colour for an interview with the boy and his family – in anticipation that he will be released on Friday.

The celebrity publicist Grant Vandenberg managed the deal, that was signed on Thursday.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv- ... z1csmQhief

This is fucking sick.

I just might be syndical, but it makes me wonder if the hold thing was planned by the parents from the beginning.

[The Hen]

No. You would never plan for your kid to be caught with drugs in Bali.

They are just bogans trying to cash up.

I would have thought their priority would have been to secure their sons release first before trying to profit.