DENPASAR, Indonesia – The trial of three British nationals accused of smuggling nearly one kilogram of cocaine or participating in a drug deal in Bali commenced on Tuesday. The accused—Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 38; Lisa Ellen Stocker, 39; and Phineas Ambrose Float, 31—face charges that carry the death penalty under Indonesian law.
Collyer and Stocker were arrested at Bali’s international airport on February 1 with 17 packages of cocaine. Float, alleged to be the intended recipient of the drugs, was apprehended several days later. Indonesian law mandates the death penalty for involvement in drug trafficking and transactions, though a moratorium on executions has been in place since 2017.
No verdict is expected for some time as proceedings continue. The British Embassy in Jakarta has yet to comment.
President Prabowo Subianto’s government has recently repatriated several foreign drug convicts on humanitarian grounds, including Frenchman Serge Atlaoui and Filipina Mary Jane Veloso, as well as members of the notorious “Bali Nine” drug syndicate.
Before Veloso’s release, 96 foreign nationals were on death row in Indonesia, all charged with drug offenses.
