Friday October 28, 03:25 PM Reuters

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Wearing a white Muslim headscarf, an Australian former lingerie model went on trial on Thursday after being caught with two ecstasy pills on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Michelle Leslie is facing charges of ecstasy possession carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years and a minimum of four. However, she also faces an alternate charge for receiving drugs as a user, which carries a maximum three-month term.

The 24-year old Leslie, identified in court documents as a Muslim, walked into the court with the headscarf but once the hearing got underway she removed it to reveal her pony-tailed black hair.

Local reports have said Leslie converted to Islam after she was arrested, and court documents identified her as Muslim.

"Michelle Leslie was caught early on Saturday August 20, 2005 ... when police searched her Gucci gray black handbag, they found two pink ecstasy pills wrapped in tissue," prosecutor Risman Tarihoran told the Denpasar District Court.

Dressed in a white shirt and black pants, Leslie looked composed and serious throughout the 30 minute trial session, after which the case was adjourned until Nov 1.

Leslie, who modeled under the name Michelle Lee, has told the police the pills were not hers and were put in her bag by someone else.

The Adelaide-born model is the latest in a string of Australians detained on drug-related charges on Bali, where local police have stepped up efforts to combat the use of narcotics.

Another Australian woman, Schapelle Corby, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in May for smuggling 4.2 kilograms of marijuana into Bali from her home country, straining relations between Canberra and Jakarta.

Australian officials have repeatedly warned their citizens not to bring illegal drugs into Asian countries, most of which impose harsh penalties.

Leslie started full-time modeling at 15 and has been in a number of high profile advertising campaigns, including for lingerie. '

Michelle Leslie, 24, sat calmly as prosecutor Risman Parihuran read out the charges against her at Denpasar District Court on Bali.

Parihuran said Leslie was caught with the two tablets when police on Bali raided a dance party on Aug. 20.

She could face at least four years behind bars if charged and convicted, Parihuran said.

Proceedings have been adjourned until Nov. 1. Leslie's trial is the latest of several drug cases involving Australians in neighboring Indonesia.

Earlier this month, eight men and one woman - dubbed the "Bali Nine'' by Australian media - went on trial after being arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs onto a flight from Bali to Sydney.

In May, former beautician Schapelle Corby, 28, was sentenced to 20 years in jail for smuggling marijuana onto the island.

Dozens of foreigners are imprisoned for drug smuggling every year in Indonesia, but Corby's case sparked public outrage in Australia, where many believe she is innocent. - AP

Lawyers for Australian model, Michelle Leslie, who is being detained on the Indonesian island of Bali on drugs possession charges, have presented evidence that she is addicted to a prescription amphetamine-based drug.

Our Indonesia correspondent, Tim Palmer, says a doctor's letter to the Denpasar District Court says Ms Leslie is being treated for attention deficit disorder.

It is the first time Michelle Leslie's disorder has been mentioned, and it comes in a letter from Melbourne's Dr Peter Lewis who says he has been treating her for attention deficit disorder for 18 months and prescribing the drug, Ritalin.

In a letter he has provided to lawyers, he says Ms Leslie last March expressed concerns she might have been developing an addiction to the drug.

She was arrested in Bali in August with two tablets police said at the time were ecstasy.

While the prosecution brief carries a maximum 15-year jail term for the main charge, her defence lawyers will seek to use a clause allowing for only a three-month sentence for addicts.

That may depend on the drug also testing as amphetamine rather than ecstasy.

LAWYERS for former Adelaide model Michelle Leslie are confident they have a case under a drug law which would carry only a three-month maximum sentence, not the 15 years sought by the Indonesian prosecution.

The 24-year-old's trial is to begin in the Denpasar District Court on October 28 before the same bench of judges hearing some of the Bali Nine cases.

Leslie's Australian lawyer, Ross Hill, said the team was confident of running their defence case under article 60 of Indonesia's psikotropika drug law which provides only a small maximum term for drug users.

But he said, "make no mistake about it", the prosecution would be seeking a conviction under legislation which carries a maximum 15-year term for those caught in possession of psikotropika drugs, of which ecstasy is one.

Mr Hill would not comment on evidentiary matters such as a letter from a Victorian doctor, included in the brief of evidence, which states Leslie was being treated with the drug Ritalin for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Ritalin contains amphetamine, as does the drug ecstasy.

Leslie was arrested on August 20 this year during a police drug sweep of patrons entering a Bali dance party.