Aussie avoids death penalty drug charge

PROSECUTORS have called for a five month jail sentence for a former Australian airline executive facing drug charges in Bali.

Prosecutors today urged Bali's Denpasar District Court to find Barry Wilfred Hess, 50, guilty of being a drug addict who failed to report to police, instead of alternative charges including drug trafficking, which carries the death penalty.

Mr Hess is on trial after police allegedly discovered 14.4g of hashish and 2.7g of marijuana in his Kuta home in August.

Prosecutors last month upgraded their charges against the former Ansett manager and Air Paradise general manager to include trafficking, which carries the death penalty.

But prosecutor Ni Gusti Ayu Sasmita said after last week's court hearing that there was no evidence Hess was distributing drugs.

Mr Hess, formerly of Melbourne but a Bali resident for the past 14 years, had also been charged with three other articles including drug possession, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, drug use and being a drug addict who failed to report to police.

Prosecutor Ni Gusti Ayu Sasmita told the court there was not enough evidence to prove the trafficking or possession charges.

She asked that Hess be sentenced to five months' jail for addiction - a month less than the maximum penalty for the charge.

"The factors that require a harsh punishment are that the accused's conduct could harm himself, his actions bring danger to the young generation and negatively affect Bali as a tourist destination, and contribute to drug dealing, especially in Kuta where he lives," she told the court.

"The factors that call for leniency are that he feels guilty and regrets what he did.

"He has never been convicted of a crime and he is undergoing rehabilitation as a drug addict."

But Mr Hess's lawyer Daniar Trisasongko said five months' behind bars was more than his client deserved.

"Five months is a long sentence for an addict," he said.

"I hope the judges will give him less than that and order him to rehabilitate."

He said the prosecutor did not clarify whether Mr Hess, a long-term resident of Bali, would be deported from Indonesia if found guilty.

The defence waived its right to object to the prosecution's sentence request.

The court will hand down its verdict next week.