3 British nationals accused of smuggling drugs face the death penalty in Indonesia

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — Three British nationals accused of smuggling nearly a kilogram (over two pounds) of cocaine into Indonesia were charged Tuesday in a court on the tourist island of Bali. They face the death penalty under the country's strict drug laws.

Convicted drug smugglers in Indonesia are sometimes executed by firing squad.

Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 28, and Lisa Ellen Stocker, 29, were arrested on Feb. 1 after customs officers halted them at the X-ray machine after finding suspicious items in their luggage disguised as food packages, said prosecutor I Made Dipa Umbara.

Umbara told the District Court in Denpasar that a lab test result confirmed that ten sachets of Angel Delight powdered dessert mix in Collyer’s luggage combined with seven similar sachets in his partner’s suitcase contained 993.56 grams (2.19 pounds) of cocaine, worth an estimated 6 billion rupiah ($368,000).

Two days later, authorities arrested Phineas Ambrose Float, 31 after a controlled delivery set up by police in which the other two suspects handed the drug to him in the parking area of a hotel in Denpasar. He is being tried separately.

The drugs were brought from England to Indonesia with a transit in the Doha international airport in Qatar, Umbara said.

The group successfully smuggled cocaine into Bali on two previous occasions before being caught on their third attempt, said Ponco Indriyo, the Deputy Director of the Bali Police Narcotics Unit during a news conference in Denpasar on Feb. 7.

After the charges against the group of three were read, the panel of three judges adjourned the trial until June 10, when the court will hear witness testimony.

Both the defendants and their lawyers declined to comment to media after the trial.

About 530 people, including 96 foreigners, are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections’ data showed. Indonesia’s last executions, of an Indonesian and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016.

A British woman, Lindsay Sandiford, now 69, has been on death row in Indonesia for more than a decade. She was arrested in 2012 when 3.8 kilograms (8.4 pounds) of cocaine was discovered stuffed inside the lining of her luggage at Bali’s airport. Indonesia’s highest court upheld the death sentence for Sandiford in 2013.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug-smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population.

Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

British nationals, from left, Jonathan Collyer, Lisa Stocker, and Phineas Float who are accused of smuggling nearly a kilogram (over two pounds) of cocaine into Indonesia leave the courtroom after their first trial hearing at Denpasar District Court in Denpasar, Bali, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British nationals, from left, Lisa Stocker, Jonathan Collyer, and Phineas Float who are accused of smuggling nearly a kilogram (over two pounds) of cocaine into Indonesia sit on the defendant's chairs during their trial hearing at Denpasar District Court in Denpasar, Bali, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British nationals, from left, Phineas Float, Jonathan Collyer, and Lisa Stocker who are accused of smuggling nearly a kilogram (over two pounds) of cocaine into Indonesia are escorted by security officers before the start of their trial hearing at Denpasar District Court in Denpasar, Bali, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British nationals, from left, Phineas Float, Jonathan Collyer, and Lisa Stocker who are accused of smuggling nearly a kilogram (over two pounds) of cocaine into Indonesia sit inside the courtroom before the start of their trial hearing at Denpasar District Court in Denpasar, Bali, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

PARIS (AP) — France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen returned to court Tuesday to appeal an embezzlement conviction, with her 2027 presidential ambitions hanging on the outcome of the case.

Le Pen, 57, is seeking to overturn a March ruling that found her guilty of misusing European Parliament funds. She was given a five-year ban from holding elected office, two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet, a further two-year suspended sentence and a 100,000-euro ($116,800) fine.

“I hope I'll be able to convince the judges of my innocence,” Le Pen told reporters Monday. “It’s a new court with new judges. The case will be reset, so to speak.”

The appeals trial is scheduled to last for five weeks, with a verdict expected at a later date.

She was seen as the potential front-runner to succeed President Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 election until last year's ruling, which sent shock waves through French politics. Le Pen denounced it as “a democratic scandal.”

Her National Rally party has been coming out on top in opinion polls, and Le Pen alleged that the judicial system brought out “the nuclear bomb” to prevent her from becoming France’s president.

The appeal trial, involving Le Pen and 11 other defendants, is scheduled to last for five weeks. A panel of three judges at the appeals court in Paris is expected to announce its verdict at a later date, possibly before summer.

Several scenarios are possible, from acquittal to another conviction that may or may not bar her from running in 2027. She could also face an even tougher punishment if convicted anew — up to 10 years in prison and a 1-million euro ($1.17 million) fine.

In March, Le Pen and other party officials were convicted of using money intended for EU parliamentary assistants who instead had other duties between 2004 and 2016, in violation of EU rules. Some actually did work for the party, known as the National Front at the time, in French domestic politics, the court said.

In handing down the sentence, the judge said Le Pen was at the heart of a “system” set up to siphon off EU parliament funds — including to pay for her bodyguard and her chief of staff.

All suspects denied wrongdoing, and Le Pen argued the money was used in a legitimate way. The judge said Le Pen and the others did not enrich themselves personally.

The legal proceedings initially stemmed from a 2015 alert raised by Martin Schulz, then-president of the European Parliament, to French authorities.

The case and its fallout weigh heavily on Le Pen’s political future after more than a decade spent trying to bring the far right into France’s political mainstream. Since taking over the party from her late father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 2011, she has sought to shed its reputation for racism and antisemitism, changing its name, expelling her father in 2015 and softening both the party’s platform and her own public image.

That strategy has paid dividends. The National Rally is now the largest single political group in France’s lower house of parliament and has built a broad network of elected officials across the country.

Le Pen stepped down as party president in 2021 to focus on the presidential race, handing the role to Jordan Bardella, now 30.

If she is ultimately prevented from running in 2027, Bardella is widely expected to be her successor. His popularity has surged, particularly among younger voters, though some within the party have questioned his leadership.

Le Pen's potential conviction would be “deeply worrying for (France's) democracy,” Bardella said Monday in a New Year address.

Far-right party National Rally president Jordan Bardella speaks during his New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at National Rally president Jordan Bardella's New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, center, is framed by Louis Aliot, left, and conservative lawmaker Eric Ciotti during National Rally president Jordan Bardella's New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)