DENPASAR ~ Prosecutors at the Denpasar District Court recommended a three-month jail sentence on Thursday for an Australian tourist on trial on drug-offence charges.

Avinash Sundhahar, 24, had the drugs in his pocket when he was arrested in a nightclub car park in Kuta in February, prosecutor Kusuma Yasa told the court.

Sundhahar had originally been charged with drug possession, which carries up to five years in jail, but prosecutors dropped the possession charge for lack of evidence and asked instead for a three-month sentence for drug addiction.

Jail terms in Indonesia are often significantly lighter for convicted drug users who can prove they are addicts. Addicts can in theory legally obtain drugs if they register with authorities.

Sundhahar said he had been given the drugs minutes before his arrest on February 12. He said he had been an addict for a year.

A string of Australians have been detained for drugs possession or trafficking in recent years on Bali, including the so-called Bali Nine gang, three of whom are on death row for attempting to smuggle heroin from the island.

Sundhahar’s trial resumes next week.