Pubdate: Sat, 12 Nov 2005
Source: Australian, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2005sThe Australian
Contact: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/files/aus-letters.htm
Website: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/35
Author: Stephen Fitzpatrick
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

MODEL SET TO BE RELEASED

INDONESIAN prosecutors have given the first sure indication Australian
model Michelle Leslie could be home within days, saying they accept
she was not a pusher when she was arrested with two ecstasy tablets in
her handbag.

State prosecutor Risman Tarihoran said he was convinced by evidence
presented on Ms Leslie's behalf that she had turned to amphetamines -
chiefly the anti-hyperactivity drug Ritalin, but also the party drug
ecstasy - after a difficult relationship with her mother.

Mr Risman said there was now a "strong possibility" the prosecution
would ask next Tuesday that a drug possession charge carrying a
maximum of 15 years be reduced to one of using drugs, which carries a
jail term of three months.

Tuesday is four days short of three months since Ms Leslie's arrest,
so should the judges choose to accelerate the judicial process, she
could be sentenced the same day.

However, such haste is extremely rare in the Indonesian legal system
and would strengthen claims made in recent weeks that Ms Leslie's case
has received special attention.

An Indonesian psychiatrist who appeared as the trump card in Ms
Leslie's defence yesterday testified that her troubled relationship
with her Philippines-born mother was at the heart of her drug use.

Addiction expert Denny Thong told judges the underwear model had first
tried ecstasy in 1999 "to forget about her problems".

These troubles, he said, included an explosive incident with her
mother almost a decade ago when, aged 15, Ms Leslie left home never to
return - a psychological wrench that "really disturbed her", Dr Thong
said.

Ms Leslie and her mother had often fought over the kind of company she
kept and their different sets of values, he said.

He said Ms Leslie, now 24, had never become dependent on ecstasy but
was "an occasional user" of the substance and that, rather than being
sentenced to a lengthy jail term, she now needed appropriate medical
treatment.

He said she had, in effect, self-medicated with a drug that, while of
a similar origin to the amphetamine-based Ritalin could only ever be a
"temporary solution" to her problems. 
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