By Rod McGuirk
Australia has given top priority to securing the return of a 14-year-old boy arrested in Indonesia for alleged marijuana possession in a challenging case that will require patience to resolve, the foreign minister said today.
The boy, whose name has been published in the media but not yet officially released, has been held at Denpasar police headquarters on the tourist island of Bali since he was arrested after allegedly buying a small quantity of marijuana from a man on Kuta Beach.
His lawyer, Muhammad Rifan, said the boy faces a maximum sentence of six years in an adult prison if convicted of possessing a quarter of an ounce (7 grams) of marijuana, which under Indonesian law is treated the same as heroin or cocaine.
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said he told Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Greg Moriarty, to go to Denpasar and give the case top priority.
"My job as foreign minister is to do everything possible to get this little bloke home," Rudd told radio station 3AW in the southern city of Melbourne.
"There are real challenges that we face here, and I think we've all got to be patient," he said. "This is going to take some time."
Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the boy's incarceration as "an incredibly distressing circumstance". She said the boy was being held apart from other prisoners.
The boy, from Morrisset Park, north of Sydney, was on vacation with his parents when he was arrested.
Rudd said the boy's parents had taken turns to spend Thursday night with their son at the police jail. Rudd declined to comment on the boy's condition.
Rifan said the boy was angry, crying and depressed in custody. He can be held for 30 days without charge.
The arresting police officers broke Indonesian rules for dealing with child suspects by not allowing the boy's parents to be present during his interview, Rifan said.
Because of this, police agreed to re-interview the boy today and have him take a new urine test for drugs.
Julian McMahon, a Melbourne lawyer representing two Australians on death row in Bali for smuggling heroin in 2005, said the boy need not fear the maximum six-year sentence.
"He would get nothing like that. He would get some months, you would expect, if he had to go to jail at all," McMahon told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Rifan said the boy could avoid a prison term if he could prove he had a drug addiction for which he had been receiving counselling in Australia.
Australian media have reported the boy is the youngest Australian to be arrested under Indonesia's tough drug laws.
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported today that the boy told police he bought the marijuana for 250,000 rupiah (AUS$25) because he felt sorry for the alleged dealer who said he had not eaten for a day.
McMahon said most foreigners are arrested in these circumstances when they buy drugs from police informants.
Indonesia has some of the world's strictest drug laws and people convicted of smuggling or possessing drugs are often executed by firing squad. More than 140 prisoners are on death row in Indonesia, including more than 50 foreigners.
AP