Martial arts expert alleged drug kingpin

[i]Bali Nine woman’s trial resumes

October 21, 2005
THE trial of the lone female among the Bali Nine, Newcastle woman Renae Lawrence, resumes in Denpasar today.

Ms Lawrence’s lawyers will object to prosecution charges against the 28-year-old accused drug mule, demanding judges throw them out of court.

One of her legal team, Yan Apul Girsang, last week said Ms Lawrence would testify against her co-accused to prove she was a victim of a conspiracy.

All nine are facing a possible firing squad under article 82 of Indonesia’s narcotics law after being arrested in Bali in April following an Australian Federal Police tip-off.

Mr Girsang said the whole operation was so Ms Lawrence and three other mules would take the fall if the heroin trafficking operation failed.

Ms Lawrence was arrested at Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport with Wollongong man Martin Stephens, 29, and Brisbane men Scott Rush, 19, and Michael Czugaj, 20, with a total of 8.2kg of heroin strapped to their bodies.

Sydney man and alleged organiser Andrew Chan, 21, was also arrested at the airport but with no drugs on him.

Alleged kingpin, Sydney martial arts expert Myuran Sukumaran, 24, and three other men, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, 27, Matthew Norman, 19 and Si Yi Chen, 20, were arrested at Kuta’s Melasti Hotel.[/i]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16988641%255E29277,00.html

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