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Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Two Ecstasy Pills

By Jeralyn, Section Foreign Affairs
Posted on Mon Aug 22, 2005 at 11:38:27 AM EST
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Schappelle Corby is about to get some company. 24 year old Australian model Michelle Leslie was arrested Saturday night in Bali after police searched her handbag and found two ecstasy pills. She faces 15 years in prison. No bail is allowed.

Pictures of Michelle and the pills are here.

Police said the two pink ecstasy pills which could land Leslie in jail for a lengthy stretch cost less than $50 or about 300,000 Indonesian rupiah. Because the drug was grouped with other hallucinogens such as speed, the maximum sentence was a 15-year jail term.

As soon as Leslie appoints a lawyer, police will conduct formal interrogations, which could begin as early as today. However, as there is no provision for bail under Indonesian law, she will continue to be held in the police cells until the investigation is complete and she is charged or released.

More news here.

Update: Michelle Leslie has a lawyer now who is focusing on having the authorities charge her with a five year offense instead of the 15 year one.

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    Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Two Ecstasy Pills | 25 comments (25 topical)
    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    It it time for travellers to seriously start boycotting Bali. It just isn't safe to travel there.

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    Damn right, I get enough tyranny here at home...Bali is freakin' ridiculous.

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#3)
    by TomK on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    What a great place Bali must be. 15 years for 2 pills. Wow. This is justice, huh? What a great world.

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#4)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    You know it's only a matter of time before the TV networks jump all over this "Models in Prison" reality format.

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#5)
    by Rich on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    Even locales that are based on tourism get sick of foreigners viewing them as places where they can engage in any number of culturally inappropriate pursuits like nude bathing. There are a variety of resorts in SE Asia that have become notorious for the amount of drug use that takes place, often resulting injuries, ODs, etc. The Full Moon parties in the islands near Ko Samui in Thailand are a good examples. In that sense, I'm happy to see Indonesia take this step to discourage drug use and, frankly, cultural pollution. OTOH, police forces often take advantage of the situation and plant drugs, entrap people, etc. I don't know the situation in Bali, but I would expect the worst of local authorities. Still, it's difficult for me to have compassion for someone who feels priviliged enough to flaunt the local laws and customs. I've lived overseas and have seen more than enough of this.

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#6)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    I'm happy to see Indonesia take this step to discourage drug use
    You make it sound like Bali is putting up some "Just Say No" posters. They put people in chains for 15 years for 2 little pills. That, my friend, is the cultural pollution. Their drug policies are twice as insane as ours, and that's saying something.

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#7)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    fwiw, some the other articles I googled about her suggest she could get off with no time at all, others say several months, and still others say up to 10 years.

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#8)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    Sarcastic... Well those reports just aren't sensational enough to get people worked up dontcha know...

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    Sarcastic, the articles also say that while that might be her ultimate sentence, there is no bail and she will spend many months in jail just waiting for a resolution of the charges.

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    I certainly don't agree with 15 year sentences for ecstasy pills, but the flip side of this is that there are a lot of careless travelers out there who don't realize that in much of the "third world", penalties for drug possession are far stiffer, and far harder to evade when one is caught, than they are in the developed countries. For instance, there are a number of Americans, including Americans with very well-to-do backgrounds, who are in Latin American jails serving 20 year sentences for drug possession, because they blithely assumed that they could do the same things in foreign countries as they could do in their own country. I am not saying this is a good thing. As I said, I don't think people should go to jail for 15 years for MDMA possession. But I do think that people who regularly travel to foreign countries (i.e., the "jet set", including fashion models) ought to take the time to learn something about the laws and customs of foreign countries that they visit before they blithely assume that they can simply bring their lifestyle over to that country. When you are in a foreign land, your home country-- and it's customs-- can't help you much. Savvy travelers know that.

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#11)
    by Kitt on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    In all seriousness, why - why - WHY would do anything after Ms Corby's fight? Take anything with you? Buy anything? Let anyone (friend or foe) put anything in your bag. Looks aren't getting anyone out of these messes. When we traveled at that age in Europe, Asia & various islands, we took nothing and bought nothing. We did drink but even getting drunk wasn't an option, although on Mykonos we made an exception. And now for damned sure I wouldn't do it. And - we won't be going to Bali when we go in the spring to that part of the world.

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    What part of zero tolerance is not clear? When I was last in Singapore (5 years ago) the signs in customs were explicit about prison terms. And the bathrooms right before customs had large trash cans with locked lids and swinging metal doors. Not that I think this is fair, but multiculturally speaking, how can you really complain. Plus, of course, there is the racist issue of how it's only an issue when a white woman is troubled. No mention of the thousands of Fillipino woman also jailed.... -C

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#13)
    by TomK on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    Our drug policy isn't quite as bad, yet, but police in Utah are fast catching up with countries like indonesia. It's only because people like talkleft and the ACLU fight so hard that we aren't there yet. Are there still black people in texas jails serving time for joints they got caught with in the 70s? If so, then we are exactly as bad as countries like indonesia, with our system of expensive defense lawyers and selective racial prosecution replacing the indonesian bribery system.

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#14)
    by Rich on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    kdog--anybody travelguide to the region mentions the drug penalties. Moroever, the use of "club drugs" like "X" is not common in this region among locals. There's no reason to assume that foreigners will get a break. there's no reason to even defend doing something that is culturally inapppropriate. If foreign tourists wanna take a risk, then this is what will happen. I can't defend bringing ecstacy to Indonesia. It's just stupid and she's just another selfish foreigner--the Australian version of an "ugly American".

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    She's not charged with bringing Ecstasy into Bali. She's charged with having two pills in her purse they think she bought from an Indonesian the day before. How can you not imagine a scenario like this: The Bali government declares an all out war on drugs. A woman goes to a night club - someone brushes against her and slips two pills in her purse. He tells the local cops he saw a foreign woman buy drugs from a local. He describes her and the car she left the club in. The cops then stop the car after it leaves the nightclub and search it and everyone in it. The Bali government gets its headline - foreign tourist arrested for drugs - the snitch who planted the pills and dropped the dime on her gets some money for his efforts from the local cops - and he is back on the street to do it again. Next time it could be you or your kid that falls prey to the scheme. Think of him like a pickpocket in reverse. As easy as it is to take a wallet, it must be easier to plant a few pills. As for her alleged statement she was "overheard" making to her friend, ask yourself how many of these local cops speak English? The answer likely is not very many. How curious that they not only overheard her comment to her friend, but could translate it verbatim. And wonder of wonders, it was incriminating. Can you spell set-up?

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#16)
    by kipling on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    But later, Bali police spokesman Colonel AS Reniban said Leslie had told detectives she bought the tablets from a "young man" the day before she was arrested.
    So we can expect this "young man" in jail, without bail, until his guilt has been proved (which is a foregone conclusion; Bali police never make mistakes), any day soon, right? TL, it stinks of setup I agree, but I don't get what the benefits are to Bali, or Indonesia, for doing that. What they get is a lot of bad press and calls for boycotting the tourist spot. Can anybody enlighten me here?

    Re: Australian Model Faces 15 Years in Bali for Tw (none / 0) (#17)
    by swingvot