An Australian father facing life in a Bali prison for alleged possession of methamphetamine has been rushed to hospital in bizarre scenes just hours after his charges were upgraded by Indonesian police.
Troy Smith, 49, was taken from his cell at Bali police headquarters to Bhayangkara Hospital, run by Balinese authorities, on Monday afternoon.
It is clear that he has suffered a back injury.
The father-of-two was seen handcuffed and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit as he was escorted by authorities to the hospital’s emergency department.
Smith, an Adelaide Crows AFL fan, shouted ‘go the Power’ (his club’s crosstown rivals) as he was led away.
The medical emergency occurred just hours after Smith’s wife of four months, Tracy Ijusa, tried to visit him in custody but was turned away by authorities.
Australian father Troy Smith (pictured in orange) was escorted to hospital with a back injury on Monday
Smith (pictured with his new wife, Tracy Ijusa) faces life in prison in Bali for alleged possession of methamphetamine
His lawyer, Ida Bagus Gumilang Galih Sakti, said Smith became “sick” while in custody.
Smith faces life in prison in Bali for alleged possession of methamphetamine.
He tried to flee the police but was captured after warning shots were fired.
Details about Smith’s arrest emerged Monday during a police news conference.
He and his new wife were on holiday in Bali when Indonesian police raided their room at the Champlung Mas Hotel in Legian, in the south of the island, on April 30.
They allegedly found 3.14 grams of methamphetamine hidden in a Colgate toothpaste tube sent to Smith from Cairns, in a package labeled as containing private paper, photos and lubricant.
Troy Smith was hospitalized just hours after his wife Tracy Ijusa (pictured) was turned away by authorities when she tried to visit him in custody
Police are said to have found another 0.4 grams of the drug bought in Bali, along with a hookah and a lighter.
Mrs Ijusa, 31, was arrested with her husband on April 30 but was later released without charge
She fought back tears as she left the police station on Monday after being denied access to visit Smith in custody.
She has promised to stand by her husband.
Outside a police news conference on Monday, Smith’s lawyer Sienny Karmana said his client tried to avoid arrest ‘because he was scared’
Police reportedly fired two warning shots into the air before Smith was arrested.
“The police said he tried to run away, but the police caught him back. They fired shots in the air, he was surprised and then fell down and the police caught him,” Ms Karmana said.
Australian father Troy Smith (pictured with his wife Tracy) has been charged with drug possession in Bali
Indonesian police claim they have found crystal meth in Troy Smith’s four-star beach resort hotel room in Bali (pictured with his wife, right)
It was initially thought Smith would face a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison for possession, but his lawyers have revealed he has also been charged with drug trafficking, which carries a maximum life sentence and a $944,860 fine.
Smith’s lawyers claim the drug package was sent to him by a friend as a thank you for his help with a car purchase, and that Smith did not know what was inside when he received it.
Smith was expected to speak to the media today, but Ms Karmana told reporters her client would not appear in the media because he was “mentally not very well”.
“Mentally he’s not doing well… he’s still struggling,” she said.
Smith will remain in custody at Bali Police Station until his case is heard in court.
Once police and prosecutors have the evidence ready for court, Smith will likely be sent to Kerobokan Penitentiary Center — a facility with a history of violence, riots and gangs.
Australian members of the Bali Nine bombers were sent to prison along with Queensland woman Schapelle Corby who spent nine years there after marijuana was found in her boogie board bag.
Pictured: Tracy Injus in Bali on Monday, who tried to visit her husband Troy Smith who was in police custody but was turned away
Troy Smith married Tracy Ijusa in Kenya in December. He asked her to marry him in October
Pictured: Police outside the Kerobokan Penitentiary Center, where Troy Smith could be sent
Another lawyer for Smith, Ida Bagus Gumilang Galih Sakti, said he hoped he would be sent to a rehabilitation center instead of a prison.
If the rehabilitation option is granted, he could avoid Kerobokan Prison altogether.
“I heard from Troy… that this was a gift because the sender knew he was a user,” Mr Sakti said.
Mr Sakti said Smith was “very depressed and remorseful” about the situation.
“When people are caught by the police in another country, they sulk… and he is quite depressed at the moment,” Sakti said.
Smith was originally from Port Lincoln in South Australia, but appears to have moved to Cairns in the past two years.
He proposed to Mrs. Ijusa in October last year and they tied the knot in January.
She was also arrested after the hotel room raid, but was released without charge and has remained in Bali to support her husband.
It is understood Smith’s relatives flew to Bali last week.
INSIDE BALI’S FEARED KEROBOKAN PRISON
The prison was built to house 300 prisoners, but as of 2017 held more than 1,400 male and female prisoners of various nationalities.
It has previously been described by prisoners as a ‘hellhole’ with frequent ‘murders, rapes, drug overdoses and bashing’.
Announcements and sirens on loudspeakers blare every day and prisoners constantly compete for space in the crowded cells.
More than 90 percent of the prisoners are Indonesian and 78 percent have been convicted of drug abuse. 15,000 rupiah ($1.08) per day is allocated for each prisoner.
In the photo: prisoners in Kerobokan prison in Bali
