The Denpasar District Court of Bali started on Wednesday the trial of a British man, David James Taylor, 34, and his Australian girlfriend, Sara Connor, 46, who have been charged with assaulting and murdering a policeman.
Prosecutor Anak Agung Ngurah Jayalantara claimed the defendants, who have been in detention for two months, killed a local police officer, I Wayan Sudarsa, whose body was found with severe wounds on Kuta Beach on Aug. 17 this year.
“The couple intentionally deprived another person of his life,” Jayalantara told the court.
In the indictment, the prosecutor charged the couple with three alternative articles: Article 338 of criminal code on murder, or Article 170 on a collective assault that causes people to die, or Article 351 on assault that causes people to die, which carries a maximum punishment of 15 years in jail.
In the trial, which is being presided over by judge Made Pasek, Sara Connor emphasised that she was not guilty. “I am innocent. I am innocent. Please,” she said emotionally.
Connor’s lawyer, Erwin Siregar, told the court that her legal team will object to the prosecutor’s indictment next week. “The prosecutor’s indictment was not clear and is incomplete,” Erwin said. Connor’s trial will be continued next Wednesday.
