Police deny Leslie bribe reports By Rob Taylor and Olivia Rondonuwu November 28, 2005
BALI'S police chief has angrily denied Australian media reports that he was offered $US20,000 ($27,225) to influence the outcome of model Michelle Leslie's ecstasy drug case. The judge who presided over her trial and the prosecutors also insisted her case was dealt with fairly. In the first sign of a feared backlash by Indonesian authorities which could impact on other Australians facing Indonesian courts, they and other officials dismissed claims of a $600,000 campaign of payments and bribes to bring Leslie home. "How would you feel?" Bali police spokesman Colonel Antonius Reniban said after speaking to General I Made Manggku Pastika about the allegations today. Asked if Pastika was angered by the claims, attributed to anonymous sources, Reniban said: "Of course, he is human. It is not true." Fairfax newspapers at the weekend said more than $600,000 was channelled into the campaign to have Leslie freed from prison in Denpasar after a minimum three months, including $100,000 in bribes distributed by some of Leslie's lawyers. As well as the offer rejected by Pastika, another $US20,000 was reportedly paid to the police laboratory in an unsuccessful attempt to change positive drug test results. Reniban accused Australian media of behaving irresponsibly and said police had not been contacted about the allegations. "We do not expect a public lie," he said, adding the forensic lab chief would appear at a news conference to rebut the allegations tomorrow. "The reality is that General Pastika never met Leslie or engage in any negotiations. "He never met anyone connected with Leslie and no one talked to him about it. It didn't happen." Reniban accused Australian papers of "grabbing rumours and writing about them", without offering any proof. Prime Minister John Howard has warned the Leslie camp not to tell their version of "the truth" behind Leslie's arrest for fear on antagonising Indonesian authorities and impacting on the trial hopes of other Australians facing the country's courts, including the Bali Nine. Prosecutor Suhadi said he was "disappointed" by the newspaper allegations of bribery. The trial's chief judge I Made Sudia said the three-month sentence meted out had been appropriate for the offence committed. "If we had found even one tablet with evidence she had been a dealer she would have got the maximum sentence," he said. "The sentence was fair. Our consideration was pure." A spokesman for the Indonesian government's anti-corruption office in Jakarta said officials were not looking into Leslie's case, because there was no branch office in Bali. But I Putu Wirata Dwikora, of the Bali's Anti-Corruption Watch group, said he suspected money had changed hands in Leslie's case. "After I saw this case I think we saw the indications," he said. "It makes us question how it could be so smooth. "Her case shows that people who have money get better justice." Reniban said he had launched an investigation with both Bali's drug squad and the police laboratory. "They have assured me they have not received any money," he said. "The urine test was positive, the evidence was positive, the case proceeded, so who took the money?" http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17392270%255E23109,00.html ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/uTGrlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
