Sydney woman in bali cell one month on 20140312 p5s1m1.html – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Sydney woman in Bali cell, one month on

AAP

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The Bali drugs case involving a Sydney woman is seemingly at a standstill, one month after her arrest at the scene of a police raid.

New Zealander Leeza Tracey Ormsby, 37, was arrested at a villa north of Kuta on February 12 - two days after Australian Schapelle Corby was released from jail on parole for her drugs charges.

Ormsby's lawyer argues she was in the wrong place at the wrong time - that she had gone to her friend's villa to pick up her laptop and towel and is not connected to the drugs police found.

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The Paddington resident admits to owning a marijuana joint that was in her handbag, but denies owning six tablets of hashish, seven tablets of MDMA, electronic scales, duct tape and wrapping plastic seized from the villa.

She has spent the past month in a police cell, and is yet to be charged with anything.

Her lawyer Ari Soenardi says this is despite being questioned at length, twice.

"I was disappointed with the investigators because they tried to force Ormsby to admit to all of the evidence, even though since the very beginning, Ormsby only admitted to the stuff in her bag," he said.

"All the evidence was put into a dossier and Ormsby was told to sign it. We objected."

Ormsby has told police there was a party at the villa, but by the day of the drug bust, her friends had all returned home.

Sydney musician Azaria Byrne came forward as the man who had rented the Canggu villa before handing the keys to friends and returning home.

Witnesses claim another Australian, identified in media reports as Sydney DJ Marco Mazzucco, was questioned by police but allowed to return to Australia.

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Asked why the case was taking so long, Agus Tri Waluyo, the head of Denpasar's drug squad, said: "She doesn't want to answer (questions)".

Despite earlier telling reporters that Bali police would co-ordinate with Interpol about other suspects, Major Waluyo says they've not yet been called.

The situation has forced police to extend Ormsby's detention beyond the usual 20 days.

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