Bali drugs arrest woman 'doing OK'

The Sydney woman facing drugs charges in Bali has spoken to reporters from behind bars, saying she is "holding up okay".

Leeza Ormsby, 37, has now spent 12 nights at the Denpasar City police station jail since she was arrested in a police swoop.

She spoke to reporters yesterday through a Perspex glass partition in the jail's visiting area, using a rolled-up piece of cardboard to talk so she could be heard above the din of other prisoners and their visitors.

Nine News correspondent Michael Best said Ormsby was "tired, fragile, shaky and emotionally drained".

Ormsby, a New Zealand national who had been living in the trendy Sydney suburb of Paddington, said she was doing okay but did not want to say too much for fears of jeopardising her case, Nine News reports.

But she did confirm she had spoken with her family and told them not to visit until her case goes to court.

Ormsby also said her Indonesian lawyer was bringing her food and other supplies to make her stay in prison more comfortable.

She is currently sharing a cell with several other women and sleeping on the floor on a mat.

Ormsby was arrested on February 12 at a north Kuta villa where police allege they found 132g of MDMA and 26 grams of hashish.

She is yet to be formally charged.

Indonesian authorities are still deciding whether to charge Ormsby with possession or more serious charges relating to drug-dealing, given the quantity of drugs allegedly found and the fact police also seized suspicious instruments such as an electric scale and plastic wrappers.

Source: Nine News

Author: Erin Tennant, Approving editor: Matthew Henry