Woman, 19, caught with cocaine in her luggage escapes execution

There were concerns that Manuela Vitoria de Araujo Farias would face the death penalty in Bali but prosecutors have asked the court to jail her for 12 years

Manuela Vitoria de Araujo Farias is now likely to be jailed for 12 years instead of the execution.

ValidViewNetwork had earlier reported how Manuela Vitoria de Araujo Farias, a Brazilian national was arrested with 3kg of cocaine in her luggage as she arrived into Bali, a popular tourist island in Indonesia, ealier this year.

The young woman was arrested at Bali International Airport having passed through airports in Brazil and Qatar.

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She was charged with international drug trafficking and consequently kept in prison where she has been for the past three months. However , prosecutors last week demanded the young woman receive the maximum penalty possible should she be found guilty.

Under Indonesia’s tough anti-drug laws, she could face execution by firing squad or life imprisonment if she is convicted of trafficking.

Accused Manuela Vitoria de Araujo Farias is now likely to be jailed for 12 years instead, which is a lenient sentence in the notoriously hard-line Indonesian justice system.

Friends and family of the 19-year-old Brazilian feared she would face the death penalty but prosecutors have asked the court to jail Farias for 12 years.

Her lawyer Davi Lira da Silva said: “We start from the premise that if the prosecution itself does not plead for capital punishment, the judge will not give it […].”

Farias had claimed that she was tricked into smuggling the drugs by a gang who had told her of temples on the island where they pray for the sick, her lawyer said.

Her mother had previously suffered a stroke and so she decided to seek Buddhist prayers for a cure.

Her lawyer said: “They said that she could pray in the temples to ask for her mother’s healing.”

She was arrested at Bali International Airport in January after passing through airports in Brazil and Qatar after flying from Florianopolis in Brazil on 27th January.

The next trial date is scheduled for Tuesday May 30.