'Bali Nine' to face drug charges within weeks

JAKARTA - The Bali nine have been told they'll probably face trial within weeks on drug charges that carry the death penalty.

Indonesian police have completed their investigation and their defence lawyers expect evidence files will be handed to Denpasar prosecutors on Monday, clearing the way for a series of seven trials to start, probably in early next month.

Haposan Sihombing, the lawyer for Wollongong man Martin Stephens, 29, and Newcastle woman Renae Lawrence, 27, broke the news to his clients in Bali's Kerobokan Prison today.

He said the pair, accused of attempting to smuggle heroin from Bali to Australia in bags strapped to their legs and stomach, would be tried separately along with two others arrested at Bali airport in April and making up the so-called Airport Four.

"Their cases will be handed to prosecutors on Monday and they will probably be taken out of Kerobokan briefly while that happens," he told AAP.

Mohammad Rifan, lawyer for five of the nine, said the Denpasar District Court would in the next two weeks set a date for seven trials to begin on charges including possessing and distributing drugs, as well as conspiracy in a narcotics crime.

The charge of distributing or dealing under section 82 of tough Indonesian anti-drug laws carries the death penalty by firing squad.

Two of the trials would be for alleged gang enforcer Andrew Chan and suspected mastermind Myuran Sukumaran, both from Sydney, while three other people arrested at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta would be tried together.

The Airport Four would all be tried separately, Rifan said.

Meanwhile Haposan, who also represents Schapelle Corby, said the convicted drug smuggler's defence team had not heard yet whether the Bali High Court would grant permission for a third trial hearing to allow fresh witnesses in Australia to testify by video link.

The chief of the High Court, Judge Made Lingga, was in Jakarta for talks, possibly with the peak Supreme Court, which this week received a letter from Corby's lawyers asking judges to back another hearing.

The Australian government has also written to the High Court after judge Lingga last week refused permission for a video link hearing, saying witnesses prepared to admit involvement with a drug stash found in Corby's luggage should testify in person.

Separately, Rifan said an Adelaide man facing a maximum of four years in a Bali prison for hash possession would be sentenced in Gianyar District Court on Monday.

John Julian Pyle, 42, was arrested in May and charged with possessing 1.8 grams of hashish allegedly bought off the street in Kuta for 200,000 rupiah ($NZ$30) per gram.

He admitted to owning 0.8g of the stash, but claimed the rest belonged to a woman who he met in a local bar in Ubud.

Prosecutors have asked for a seven-month sentence.

- AAP