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Aussie facing 10 years' jail over hash
By Sian Powell and Tom Richardson - May 10, 2005

ANOTHER Australian has been arrested with drugs in Bali, following in the footsteps of the Bali Nine and Schapelle Corby and prompting denials from Balinese police that Australians have been targeted.

John Julian Pyle, a 42-year-old South Australian, was arrested in his bungalow in the expatriates' enclave of Sayan, near Ubud, north of Bali's capital, Denpasar.

Police raided Mr Pyle's home before dawn on Sunday morning, and allegedly found 1.8g of hashish kept in a plastic bag, a small bottle and a condom box.

Police say the web designer has admitted his guilt and faces up to 10 years in prison, and a fine of 500,000,000 rupiah ($68,122).

Mr Pyle told The Australian last night he "was a little bit surprised about the whole thing but other than that I am okay".

His Adelaide-based mother Cynthia Pyle said her son had moved to Bali because the cost of living was much cheaper and she had been "horrified" to learn of his arrest.

"Hi ... are you in jail?," Mrs Pyle asked her son during a short phone call. "I didn't think he'd do anything stupid like that, especially after everything that has happened in Bali," she said afterwards.

Mr Pyle has lived in Bali for the past 2 1/2 years while his estranged wife and their child live in Australia.

Wearing a lime-green batik shirt and jeans, Mr Pyle yesterday engaged lawyer MH Rifan, who represents five of the nine Australians arrested in Bali last month.

Marijuana and hashish are considered schedule-one drugs in Indonesia, along with heroin, and possession is considered a serious crime.

Two officials from the Australian consulate-general in Bali arrived at the police station to offer assistance.

Ketut Wartana, the chief narcotics investigator in Gianyar, said Mr Pyle's arrest, just three weeks after the high-profile capture of the Bali Nine, was a coincidence. "There's no intention to consider Australians suspicious," he said.

In Sydney yesterday, Khanh Thanh Ly, who police say is linked to the Bali Nine, was released on $100,000 bail after the commonwealth prosecutor refused to oppose his application.

Mr Ly, 24, appeared before Magistrate Ross Pogson charged with conspiracy to import heroin into Australia between August 2004 and April this year, with Mr Pogson questioning why the DPP's Michael Poberenzy was prepared to let Ly back on the streets. Ly was one of four people arrested on Friday in Sydney and Brisbane.

"There is a presumption against bail and what seems to me to be a pretty strong case," Mr Pogson said in Sydney's Central Local Court.

"Can you give me a good reason (why bail is not being opposed)?"

"There are sound reasons that I am not at liberty to disclose," Mr Poberenzy replied

Bali drug bust shocks mother
Tuesday May 10, 08:04 AM

The mother of an Adelaide man arrested in Bali for drug possession is considering travelling to the island to be with her son.

Cynthia Pyle, mother of John Julian Pyle, said she had spoken to her son, who was in custody after being arrested in the popular hill resort of Ubud.

Police allege Pyle, 42, was found with 1.8 grams of hashish packed in three small containers.

Ms Pyle said her son did not dispute the possession charge.

But she said she was shocked he had been caught with drugs after the recent publicity surrounding nine Australians arrested last month over alleged heroin trafficking.

"I thought he had more sense, I didn't think he'd do anything stupid like that," Ms Pyle told the Adelaide Advertiser.

Pyle, who claimed to be an internet businessman, allegedly had 0.7g of the drug secreted between a glass phial, while another 1 gram was in plastic packaging and 0.1 gram was inside an empty condom pack.

It was unclear whether Pyle had been on holiday in Bali or was a resident, Bali police spokesman Colonel AS Reniban said.

But he said the Adelaide man had two addresses, including a temporary Ubud residence, and a permanent one in Australia.

Reniban said Pyle was arrested on Sunday and police were still investigating his case. He could receive a jail term if convicted.

He was the 18th Australian to be arrested in Bali for drug offences since 2002, Col. Reniban said.

Ms Pyle said she would discuss her travel plans with her daughter.

Australian arrested on Bali island for possession of hashish
DENPASAR, Bali (AP): Police arrested an Australian citizen on Bali Island for possession of a small amount of hashish, the latest in a rash of drug cases involving Australians on the resort island, a spokesman said Monday.

The suspect was arrested on Sunday in the Ubud area of the island with about two grams (0.07 ounces) of the drug after a tip off from local residents, said police Col. Antonius Samuel Reniban.

The man - identified by police as John Julian Pyle - has yet to be charged, but Indonesia has stiff penalties for the possession of even small amounts of illegal drugs. Reniban said he could face 15 years in jail if found guilty of possession.

The arrest comes just weeks after nine Australians were detained for allegedly trying to smuggle heroin from Bali into Australia.

It also comes as the trial of Australian Schapelle Corby for allegedly smuggling marijuana onto Bali comes to a close. The trial has aroused unprecedented interest in Australia, and forced Canberra to urge Indonesian prosecutors not to ask for the death penalty. (*)

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