[420 Girl]

Australian Robert McJannett - caught with a small packet of cannabis at Denpasar airport in December may get off with a stint in drug rehabilitation.

An Australian trade unionist - Robert Paul McJannett — caught with a small packet of cannabis at Denpasar airport in December — may get off with a stint in rehabilitation once time already served in prison is taken into account.

McJannett - a burly Perth trade unionist who has unsuccessfully ran for senior positions in the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union - was charged with four drug-related offences when he made his first court appearance in Denpasar yesterday.

The sentences for the charges range from a maximum 15-year prison term for importing narcotics to four months in prison and rehabilitation for failing to report he was a drug addict.

Under Indonesia's legal system, the court will decide which, if any, of the four charges apply.

As such, McJannett's best hope is if a Bali court finds he was a drug addict, something McJannett now maintains, saying he needed to smoke cannabis to combat insomnia.

"The new drug laws carries heavier sentence for drug crimes, but also pays more attention to users," said prosecutor I Nyoman Sucitrawan.

"If he's found guilty, as a user, we still have to put him on drug rehab, sending him to prison would only worsen his addiction."

Soon after his arrest, McJannett claimed he was "set up" and the cannabis planted in his luggage as he flew to Bali for a holiday with his adult son.

That claim was later retracted.

McJannett yesterday insisted he was unaware of Indonesia's strict drug laws despite the enormous publicity generated by the cases of Schapelle Corby, who was caught with cannabis, and the Bali Nine ******-smuggling ring.

"As far as I know, five grams of marijuana is legal in my country. I wasn't aware of the law in Indonesia," he told reporters.

McJannett has been held in Bali prisons since his arrest, meaning if he was found guilty of the most lenient charge he would be eligible for a quick release and rehabilitation.

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