Fourth Briton jailed in Bali for drugs smuggling

AFP/London

A British man arrested in connection with a drugs trafficking ring on the Indonesian resort island of Bali was sentenced to six years in jail for possession of cocaine yesterday.

Julian Ponder, 43, is among four Britons arrested on drugs charges last year including Lindsay Sandiford, a grandmother who was sentenced to death last week for her part in what authorities said was a “huge international syndicate”.

Presiding judge Gunawan Tri Budiono told Bali’s Denpasar court that Ponder was guilty of possessing 23.04 grams (0.8 ounces) of cocaine with a street value of $6,000, found in the bedroom of his luxury Bali villa.

“The defendant has been proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing a crime of drug possession,” he said, adding that in addition to the jail term Ponder was fined 1bn rupiah ($103,000).

The sentence was lighter than the seven-year jail term recommended by prosecutors.

Judges are not obliged to follow the guidelines.

Sandiford was sentenced to death despite a recommendation of a 15-year jail term.

Ponder was arrested after receiving a package from Sandiford in a police sting mounted after she was caught with 5kg of cocaine hidden in her suitcase on a flight from Bangkok to Bali in May. He was initially also accused of trafficking in connection with the $2.4mn drugs haul, but earlier this month prosecutors dropped the more serious charge.

Defence lawyer Arie Budiman Soenardi told reporters after the trial that he would advise Ponder not to appeal his sentence for possession, which, under Indonesian law is punishable by life imprisonment.

“(The sentence) is quite light, not far from what the prosecutors had asked, so we will soon advise our client to accept it,” he said.

Another judge on the three-man panel, Anak Agung Anom Wirakanta, admonished Ponder for contravening the government’s anti-narcotics efforts, but noted that he had “confessed to his crime and apologised to Indonesians”.

Ponder, dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt and black jeans, appeared tense during the trial but visibly relaxed after the verdict was read out, his shoulders dropping in relief.