Drug-accused Briton appears masked on TV in Bali

Zaid Thanoon (left) Victor Ortegarocha (right) Image copyright SONNYTUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty
Image caption Zaid Thanoon (left) and Victor Ortegarocha are accused of attempting to smuggle cannabis into Bali

A British man accused of smuggling cannabis into Bali has appeared wearing a mask at a TV press conference.

Zaid Thanoon, a photographer from Sheffield, was put in front of cameras with another man on Wednesday.

He was arrested on 12 July, suspected of carrying three-and-a-half grams of cannabis into Indonesia.

A second man who appeared, Victor Ortegarocha, from Chile, was allegedly caught with three grams of cannabis the following day.

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Both men appeared before local media at the customs office near Ngurah Rai airport on Bali.

The Foreign Office said it was assisting a British man following his arrest in Indonesia.

Bali is an island and province of Indonesia, which has some of the toughest drug laws in the world.

News agency AFP said sentences for smugglers who carry five or more grams include the death penalty.

Image copyright SONNYTUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty
Image caption The men were masked and handcuffed as they were led into the press conference

According to local media reports, Mr Thanoon admitted being a recreational cannabis user.

Reports say the 26-year-old was arrested after he arrived from Thailand.

His Instagram page showed he had previously been travelling in China, Mongolia and Hong Kong.

A man from the Netherlands was also arrested but was not brought before the cameras.