A British man who could face the death penalty in Indonesia if convicted following drug smuggling allegations has admitted he has been “very stupid”.
Pip Holmes was among four men from Peru, China, Malaysia and Germany held in Bali after they were arrested in five separate operations by customs officials and police.
The five were paraded at a news conference in Denpasar, the capital of the popular tourist destination, last week.
The father-of-two, from Cornwall, is accused of receiving almost 31kg of cannabis oil in the mail. He said he had been in Bali for two months before being arrested earlier this month.
The 45-year-old claims he was caught with around three grams of medicinal THC oil, which he says he uses to treat arthritis.
Holmes’ family launched a crowdfunding page to raise £85,000 (£67,000) to cover legal fees in a bid to keep him out of prison.
They say he could face up to 15 years behind bars, but hope he might be kept at a rehabilitation centre instead before being deported to the UK.
But he could be sentenced to death if convicted, police in Indonesia said.
The south east Asian country has strict drug laws and dozens of convicted smugglers are on death row. Its last executions were in July 2016 when an Indonesian and three foreigners were shot by a firing squad.
British woman Lindsay Sandiford was sentenced to death in Bali in 2013 after being found guilty of attempting to smuggle £1.6 million worth of cocaine into the holiday island on May 19, 2012.
Holmes, who has been moved to a rehab centre, revealed through a message on the crowdfunding page that he feels “sick with fear”.
He said: “For the last few days, each morning I have woken up in a terrible nightmare.
“As it stands, I don’t know if I’m about to spend a few months in rehabilitation or if I’m about to face 5 to 15 years in Kerobokan - one of the toughest prisons on Earth.”
He added: “It all went terribly wrong when I was arrested for possession of a tiny amount of THC oil. Stupid much? Yes very very stupid.
“Even though medicinal THC is something so widely accepted elsewhere and it was such a small amount, I foolishly crossed the line in a very strict country.
“The only way now to ensure my sentence is something I will survive is to invest in the right legal representation and rehabilitation.”