(20 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Denpasar, Indonesia – 20 May 2025
1. Tracking shot of British citizen Thomas Parker, wearing sunglasses and handcuffed, walking into court building accompanied by officers
2. Wide of Denpasar District Court
3. Denpasar courthouse sign
4. Officers uncuffing Parker
5. Parker taking seat in courtroom
6. Judge opening trial
7. Mid of trial
8. Parker sitting during trial with interpreter
9. Wide of trial
10. Lawyers speaking to judge
11. Zoom out from judge closing trial to Parker standing and walking out of courtroom
12. Officers putting prison uniform and handcuffs back on Parker before leading him out of court
STORYLINE:
A British man on trial for drug offenses pleaded for leniency Tuesday in a court on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali after a charge that could carry the death penalty was dropped.
Thomas Parker, from Cumbria in northwest England, was arrested on January 21, at a villa near Kuta beach, a popular tourist spot, after he allegedly collected a package from a motorcycle taxi driver at a nearby street.
According to the court document obtained by The Associated Press, Parker was noticed “acting suspiciously” by officers while he was collecting the package.
He allegedly discarded it in a panic and fled when police approached him.
He was traced back to the villa where he was staying and was arrested.
The court document said a lab test result confirmed the package contained slightly over a kilogram (2.326 pounds) of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, the main ingredient in ecstasy.
Parker was initially charged with drug trafficking and could have faced the death penalty by firing squad if found guilty.
However, the trafficking charge was dropped after police investigators determined that the package was not directly linked to him.
The case went unreported until authorities showed a handcuffed Parker at a news 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 drug dealer friend, identified only as Nicky, who Parker had known for around two years and spoke to regularly through the Telegram messaging app.
During the trial that began last month, Parker told the court he initially refused to collect the package but later agreed to do it after Nicky assured him that the package was safe and would not put him in danger.
Parker was told someone would pick it up shortly from him, his lawyer, Edward Pangkahila said.
Parker was not promised money or anything else by Nicky in return, Pangkahila said.
Authorities reduced the charge from trafficking to the less serious offense of hiding information from authorities.
Prosecutors on May 6 sought a one-year prison term for Parker.
However, under Indonesian legal system, judges have an important role as legal determinants in a trial. They could seek further charges if applicable laws are unclear or non-existent, meaning that the trafficking charge could be reinstated.
Pangkahila said that Parker last met Nicky a year ago when he was on vacation in Thailand.
As his friend was a dealer, Parker worried the package was filled with drugs. He panicked when he saw police officers on the street and and was approached by them, Pangkahila said.
Wearing a white shirt and black trousers, Parker repeatedly expressed his remorse in his final plea on Tuesday and asked the panel of three judges in Denpasar District Court to consider his situation and impose a lenient sentence.
AP video shot by Sigit Purwono
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