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ABC News
ABC News
National
By Indonesia correspondent Adam Harvey

Qld man sentenced to 10 months' drug rehabilitation in Bali

Joshua James Baker escaped police custody after his arrest and was captured 12 hours later.

An Australian man caught carrying a small amount of marijuana into Indonesia has been sentenced to 10 months' rehabilitation at a Bali treatment facility.

Mount Isa man Joshua James Baker has already been detained for four months and will be free to leave Bali in six months time.

Baker, 33, was arrested at Bali's international airport in October after a customs officer noticed his "nervous and suspicious" behaviour.

Officers searched Baker and found 28 grams of marijuana mixed with tobacco as well as 37 tablets of the prescription drug Diazepam.

Baker did not have a prescription for the Diazepam, which can have a mood-altering effect.

Baker escaped police custody after his arrest and was captured 12 hours later in Bali's Canggu district.

His lawyers said he suffered from mental health problems and used the marijuana to self-medicate.

The trial heard that Baker had bought the marijuana from a man at a bar in Cambodia.

A court in Denpasar said Baker received a reduced sentence due to his psychological problems and because he showed remorse during his trial.

However, the three-judge panel said Baker had damaged Indonesia's efforts to combat narcotics and had harmed Bali's reputation as a tourist destination.

The judges ordered him to continue rehabilitation at the Kita drug treatment facility in Denpasar.

Baker's lawyer Maya Arsanti said her client accepted the judges' decision "so he can be free from his marijuana addiction".

He will not be allowed to leave Bali until his rehabilitation is complete.

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