Prosecutor jokes about the truth with Bali 9's Sukumaran

DENPASAR, Bali, - With a laugh and a slap on the back, the man trying to send accused Bali Nine ringleader Myuran Sukumaran to the firing squad today urged him to tell the truth in his fight to beat the death penalty.

As the Australian martial arts expert was led to the court room, prosecutor Olopan Nainggolan strode beside Sukumaran from a cell at the rear of the Denpasar District Court.

"In front of the court you have to tell the truth, okay? Don't lie," he told him in English.

He then explained he was "only joking", prompting a rare smile in reply.

The usually inscrutable Sukumaran arrived in court to hear a three-judge panel rule on a defence request to have the charges against him thrown out.

Sukumaran's lawyers had asked the court to dismiss the prosecution indictment arguing it was unclear and contained serious legal failings.

But chief judge I Gusti Lanang Dauh said the charges were accurate and supportable under the law.

"The prosecutors have explained the crimes done by the defendant accurately, including the method and how they have planned the operation in Australia until they were caught in Bali airport," Dauh said.

The decision ended three weeks of legal wrangling and cleared the way for Sukumaran's trial to begin with witness testimony from November 11 after a break for holidays to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

In a separate court, Newcastle woman Renae Lawrence -- one of the Nine's alleged drug mules -- also lost her legal bid to have the charges thrown out.

Judge Putu Widnya refused to accept a defence argument that the indictment should have included a legal clause treating all members of the Nine equally as a group.

"There is no obligation for the prosecutor to explain who is the leader, and who was a member of the organisation," he said.

"Narcotics crimes are very secretive crimes.

"The lawyer's reasons have no legal grounds and therefore must be rejected."

The judges also said a prosecutor error wrongly overstating Lawrence's age as 38 instead of 28 was not critical to the case.

"A mistype is not something that causes loss to the defendant in defending herself," Widnya said.

Lawrence's lawyer Anggia Browne said she accepted the ruling.

Prosecutor Ni Putu Indriati said she would call police intelligence officers as witnesses when Lawrence's trial resumed on the same day as Sukumaran's.

- AAP