Bali court told not to sacrifice Aus woman

A Bali court has been urged not to "sacrifice" Australian woman Sara Connor simply to save face.

Lawyers for accused murderer Sara Connor have argued the case against the Australian woman seems "made up" and have called on the judges not to "sacrifice" her simply to save face.

The 46-year-old mother from Byron Bay fronted Denpasar District Court on Wednesday for the second day of her trial over the alleged murder of Wayan Sudarsa, whose bloodied body was discovered on Kuta beach in the early hours of August 17.

Connor and her British boyfriend David Taylor are facing charges of murder, fatal assault in company and assault causing death.

Connor's legal team - made up of Erwin Siregar, Robert Khuana and Ketut Ngastawa - have launched a challenge, urging the judge to dismiss the charges levelled against her.

"The prosecution has been inaccurate, unclear and incomplete in formulating the indictment," they said.

The prosecution should have charged her with eliminating evidence or released her, they submitted.

"Don't force (yourself) to fulfil specific targets or save face by sacrificing the defendant and sacrificing the law," they told the judges.

The indictment, they argued, was not based on the result of the investigation but "speculation" and gave the general impression of being "made up".

They submitted that the prosecution had "copied and pasted" the same allegations when explaining each charge against their client, rather than outlining different actions.

The indictment, they added, also focused on the actions of Taylor, rather than Connor.

Taylor's trial, which is being held separately to Connor's, meanwhile heard testimony from Denpasar detective Sulhadi.

He said the murder stemmed from Taylor confronting Mr Sudarsa and accusing him of being involved with Connor's missing purse.

This, he said, "insulted" the traffic cop, and sparked the fight which ended with his death "at the hands of two perpetrators".

Taylor responded to his testimony through an interpreter, saying: "I hit the victim's face with (his binoculars) and later with the (beer) bottle. That was for self-defence".

"The one cutting (Mr Sudarsa's) identity cards was Sara and it was Sara's idea."

"It is not true that I killed (him) it was only self-defence."

Detective Sulhadi said that during one of the interrogation sessions, held after their arrest in August, Connor "confessed" to hitting Mr Sudarsa, sitting on him and wrapping her arm around him during the fight.

Connor will return to court on Monday, while Taylor matter will return on Wednesday next week.


Share

3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world