Martin Stephens sits in a courtroom in Denpasar. Picture / Reuters
DENPASAR - One of the Bali Nine is to testify against his co-accused in a bid to escape the firing squad, although he fears reprisals from a drug gang.
Martin Stephens, 29, from Wollongong, was one of four alleged drug smugglers appearing in court in Bali yesterday as trials continued
for the nine, who are all facing the death penalty for heroin trafficking.
The lawyer for Stephens, Adnan Wirawan, said his client would testify against other members of the group caught in Bali in April, allegedly trying to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin back to Australia.
But Mr Wirawan said Stephens was nervous about reprisals from a possible bigger drug syndicate which supplied the heroin to the failed trafficking operation.
"He does have that nervousness but I told him he has no choice," Mr Wirawan said outside Denpasar District Court.
"I told him to tell the truth. Either they are going to kill you or the court is going to kill you."
Stephens is one of the alleged "mules" captured at Bali airport with blocks of heroin strapped to his body, and has been described by his lawyer as a "human suitcase" lured to Bali by drug masterminds.
Also appearing in court yesterday were the youngest of the nine Australians facing a possible firing squad, 19-year-old Matthew Norman, together with Thanh Duc Tan Nguyen, 23, and Si Yi Chen, 20.
The three, who are facing a joint trial, were allegedly caught in a Bali hotel preparing a shipment of heroin.
Five others, including four alleged mules, were arrested together at Bali airport. The trials of accused "godfather" Andrew Chan and Brisbane youth Scott Rush continue separately today , followed by Renae Lawrence, the lone female in the group, tomorrow.
- AAP
