Australian diplomats yesterday were due to meet with an Australian teenager detained on suspicion of drug possession during end-of-school celebrations in Bali, Indonesia, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop said.
Jamie Murphy was allegedly found with a small plastic bag of white powder by security staff at a nightclub in the entertainment precinct of Kuta early on Tuesday. The 18-year-old was celebrating with fellow graduates from their high school in the Australian west coast city of Perth.
News Corp newspapers reported that he could be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison if the powder proves to be less than 5g of an illicit drug.
Bishop said consular staff in Bali had contacted Murphy in a Kuta police cell and would meet him yesterday.
Murphy could be held for six days before a decision is made to formally arrest him, she said.
“This is very early days. I don’t want to say anything that would compromise his circumstances or be counterproductive,” Bishop told Sky News. “At this stage, our focus is on assisting his family and the young man navigate their way through the Indonesian judicial system.”
Bishop said the case was a warning to thousands of Australian school leavers who travel overseas to celebrate their graduations that they must abide by sometimes harsh local laws.
Australian Nicholas Langan, 26, was freed from a Bali prison in January after serving 12 months for sharing a marijuana cigarette on a beach.
A 14-year-old Australian boy, who was not named, was sentenced to two months in prison after he was arrested with 3.6g of marijuana during a family vacation to Bali in 2011.
Diplomatic tensions increased between the nations last year when Indonesia executed eight drug convicts, including two Australians.
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