Prosecution set to start in Bali trial

DRUG TRIAL: Antony de Malmanche is in Kerokoban Prison.

The prosecution in the trial of a Wanganui man arrested for carrying methamphetamine in Bali is due to begin its case on Tuesday.

The case is only being heard on Tuesdays.

Antony de Malmanche was arrested in December at Bali's Denpasar International Airport and charged with carrying 1.7kg of methamphetamine in his backpack. He had travelled to Hong Kong to meet his internet girlfriend "Jessie" before flying to Bali. His supporters say he was duped.

He is in Kerokoban Prison. The trial, which sits one day a week on Tuesdays, began about a month ago.

The defence so far has questioned a "raft of issues" with the indictment, but judges have ruled the trial should proceed.

"The court's entitled to do that," de Malmanche's New Zealand lawyer Craig Tuck said. Mr Tuck said the most important thing was that the judges were aware of the issues that would be raised in the course of the trial.

He expected the prosecution to take four to five weeks to present its case, after which the defence could be launched. "I suspect we could take eight weeks."

The court had agreed it had to consider mens rea, or whether de Malmanche had intent or knowledge. The defence has said de Malmanche was a "trafficked person not a trafficker". It's a defence Mr Tuck has said could be groundbreaking.

Mr Tuck is in contact with de Malmanche each day and said he had been moved into a cell at Kerokoban Prison.

A defence team of about 10, including a British QC, Indonesian lawyers and human rights experts, are working on the case. "It's 12 hours a day for us at the moment. A lot of the research is being done back here, " Mr Tuck said.