A British man who is on trial in Bali because of a drug offense

Denpasar, Indonesia – A British man due to drug violations on Tuesday in front of a court on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali after an indictment that could bear the death penalty was dropped.

Thomas Parker from Cumbria in the northwest of England was arrested on January 21 in a villa near Kuta Beach, a popular tourist place after collecting a package of a motorcycle taxi driver on a nearby street.

According to the court document received by The Associated Press, Parker was “suspicious” of the officials while collecting the package. He supposedly thrown it away in panic and fled when the police approached him. He was returned to the villa, in which he stayed and was arrested.

In the court document, a laboratory test was confirmed that contains the package over a kilogram (£ 2.326) methyl dioxymetical dioxymetics or MDMA, the main ingredient in ecstasy.

Parker was initially charged with drug trafficking and would have found the death penalty through guilty.

However, the indictment of human trafficking was dropped after the police investigators found that the package was not directly connected to him.

The case was not reported until the authorities showed a Parker tied with handcuffs on a press conference on March 6.

During the police investigation, the 32-year-old electrician was able to prove that he did not order the package. It was sent by a friend of the drug dealer who was only identified as Nicky, from which Parker had known for around two years and regularly talked about Telegram messaging app.

During the last month, the last month began, Parker told the court that he initially refused to catch up with the package, but later agreed to do it after Nicky had assured him that the package was to be safe and would not put him in danger.

Parker was said that someone would pick it up from him shortly, said his lawyer Edward Pangkahila. Parker did not promise money or anything else by Nicky, said Pangkahila.

The authorities reduced the indictment of trade to the less serious crime of hiding information from the authorities. The public prosecutor was looking for a one -year prison sentence for Parker on May 6th.

In the context of the Indonesian legal system, however, the judges play an important role as legal determinants in a process. If the applicable laws unclear or do not exist, they could obtain further fees, which means that the indictment for human trade can be reset.

Pangkahila said that Parker Nicky last met a year ago when he was on vacation in Thailand.

Since his friend was a dealer, Parker feared that the package was filled with drugs. He panic when he saw police officers on the street and was addressed by them, said Pangkahila.

Parker wore a white shirt and black trousers and repeated his repentance on Tuesday in his last plea.

“I’m very sorry and apologize, I know it was a mistake,” said Parker.

After Parker read his plea, the presiding judge Gusti Ayu Akhirnyani postponed the trial until May 27, when the judges read their judgment in a judgment.

“So far, you have not been able to prove (prosecutors) that our client is an auxiliary man or dealer,” said Pangkahila, “he has no connection to a drug network. We hope that the judges will come to the same conclusion.”

He said his client was nervous and depressed when he was on trial.

Indonesia has very strict drug laws and convicted human retailers can be executed by a shooting squad.

Around 530 people are in Indonesia in the death cell, mainly because of drug crimes, including 96 foreigners, as the Ministry of Immigration and Correction Data showed. The last executions of Indonesia by an Indonesian and three foreigners were carried out in July 2016.

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The author of the Associated Press Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.