A 19-year-old Brazilian teen detained for allegedly bringing drugs into Bali has likely escaped being executed by firing squad. Following an alleged 3kg cocaine bust in January, Brazilian teenager Manuela Vitoria de Araujo Farias was charged with international drug trafficking.
Last month, when an international news agency announced that prosecutors had requested the harshest punishment for her, her story made headlines worldwide.
She might have been executed by firing squad or sentenced to life in prison if she had been found guilty of drug trafficking in Indonesia.
According to reports in Brazilian media, however, the Brazilian teen attorney Davi Lira da Silva feels this outcome was ruled out last week when the prosecution sought the court to sentence Farias to 12 years of imprisonment.
Based on da Silva’s claims, the defence is now more at ease with the verdict because Farias “practically escaped both life imprisonment and the death penalty.”
Da Silva believed the judge would not impose the death penalty if the prosecution did not request it. As far as it is known, the case will return to court on Tuesday, 30th of May 2023.
The Brazilian teen’s arrest was verified by Bali Police Chief Inspector General Putu Jayan Danu Putra to local media on the 27th of January, 2023, in Denpasar, Bali.
According to the local news source, Farias boarded a Qatar Airways aircraft that landed at Bali Airport at approximately three in the morning on the 1st of January, 2023. She had taken a flight via Qatar from Brazil to Bali.
“The Bali airport customs stopped the Brazilian teen’s attempt to smuggle drugs.” At the press briefing on the 27th of January, Chief Inspector Putra reportedly told reporters, “We truly appreciate what customs has done.”
Although da Silva implied that Farias, who made a living by selling lingerie and perfume, was duped into cooperating when the organisation informed her of temples in Bali where they pray for the sick, prosecutors had claimed the Brazilian teen was associated with a criminal drugs ring.
According to Farias’ attorneys, the Brazilian teen planned to ask for Buddhist prayers for her ill mother at the temple in Bali and not to smuggle a massive amount of cocaine to the country.
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