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Prosecutors seek death for Bali Nine
Trials for the Bali Nine could start within two weeks and all will face heroin trafficking charges that carry death by firing squad.

Prosecutors in Bali on Tuesday handed over files to the Denpasar District Court, clearing the way for trials to begin next month.

The team of six provincial prosecutors have asked court officials to schedule seven separate trials.

Four of the nine Australians, detained at Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport in April with blocks of heroin weighing between 1.3kg and 2.9kg allegedly strapped to their bodies, will each be tried separately.

The four are Wollongong man Martin Stephens, 29, Brisbane duo Michael Czugaj and Scott Rush, both 19, and the only female among the group, 27-year-old Newcastle woman Renae Lawrence.

The so-called gang enforcer Andrew Chan, 21, from Sydney, will be tried separately as will the accused mastermind of the gang, Myuran Sukumaran, 24, also from Sydney.

Three others - Brisbane man Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, 27, and Sydney pair Si Yi Chen, 20, and Matthew James Norman, 18, - who were arrested with Sukumaran at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta will be tried together.

The hotel raid launched with the help of Australian Federal Police netted 300g heroin divided between two small bags.

Police also found five mobile phones, two suitcases containing scales and packaging materials, as well as backpacks.

The arrests led to criticism of the AFP for having tipped off Indonesian police for alleged offences that could see all nine Australians shot, despite Canberra's opposition to the death penalty.

The defence lawyer for Lawrence, Haposan Sihombing, said the prosecution files were handed over to the court this morning.

"All of them are facing death," he told AAP.

Eight of the nine will face between four and five layers of possession charges under tough narcotics laws, which also carry life sentences and fines of up to $A394,000.

But police asked for Chan, who was pulled off a Sydney-bound Australian Airlines flight without drugs, to face an additional burden with a second charge of possession.

The extra charge was designed to ensure he could not walk away free, police said.

With the files lodged, the court can now order trials to begin within a fortnight.

Chan's lawyer Mohammad Rifan said he had not yet seen the charges for his client.

"But if (the two charges are) true, then the prosecutor just has more to prove," he said.

Prosecutors two weeks ago sought advice from Indonesia's Attorney-General Abdul Rachman Saleh in Jakarta asking for a second opinion on plans to seek the firing squad.

Rifan said the prosecution team was divided over whether they could successfully argue for death sentences.

Plea from Bali 9 mum
By CLARE HAYES

THE Bali 9 could face court early next month. And, as the youngest of the accused drug mules Matthew Norman counts down to judgement day, his mother is reaching despair.

In her 10 years in Port Macquarie, Robyn Davis says she has lived a quiet life.

What she is watching her son go through now, she said, "is not normal".

She is finding it difficult to get information about the case against Norman and struggling with the fact she can't be by his side throughout his trial.

Ms Davis is trying to return to Bali and, she said, despite losing her job in a business takeover, she has found the money for an airfare and one week's accommodation.

"I'd like to get over there," she said.

"I don't believe the media reports. My son is not going to be shot, and I'd like to go and see for myself what is happening with my son."

Saturday was Norman's 19th birthday. Ms Davis said she spent the day in tears.

Now, she is pleading for community support. One week of accommodation, she said, won't see her through the court case. It could take weeks, even months, because Ms Davis believes her son will face a separate trial to seven of the Bali 9.

"This year is the first time I've asked for the town to give me a hand," she told the Port News.

"We're talking another country and more expenses.

"I know this is not the town's responsibility, but I am appealing for help."

Ms Davis is appealing particularly to larger businesses to help with expenses.

Her home is still on the market and she has less than a month to raise some money.

To help contact the Port News.

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