convicted. Philip Ruddock, a federal MP, was quoted as saying: Criminal trials Criminal trials for the accused commenced in the Denpasar District Court on 11 October 2005. Three of the four arrested at the Melasti Bungalows, Nguyen, Chen and Norman, were tried together, with the remaining six defendants tried separately. All defendants faced a maximum penalty of death by firing squad if found guilty. The trials were often delayed due to the defendants complaining of illness, headaches and nausea. Australia's prime minister, John Howard, said the Australian government would oppose any death sentences imposed. On 6 December 2005, Australian lawyers Robert Richter QC and Brian Walters QC called for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to extradite the nine to Australia on heroin conspiracy-related charges. On 7 December 2005, Denpasar District Court judge I Wayan Yasa Abadhi called for Australians not to interfere in the legal proceedings in Indonesia, saying: {{quotation|"Criticism from outside is expected, but Indonesian courts will only adhere to the laws applied in this country, and that includes the death penalty. The judges will not budge, we will not be affected by public opinion or the media."|Denpasar District Court Judge I Wayan Yasa Abadhi, December 2005.}} Sukumaran remained mostly silent throughout the proceedings and blamed amnesia for his poor recollections of events leading to his arrest. Trials were scheduled to be completed with verdicts announced before 23 February 2006, before a legal deadline for the group's detention expired. Lawrence claimed that she received threats of harm against herself and her family if she did not proceed with the plan to import heroin into Australia; she gave evidence in the Denpasar District Court, that she was ordered to book a flight to Bali. She claimed she did not know why she was ordered to travel and her colleague Stephens claims he was also ordered with threats to travel to Bali by Chan, who showed him some photographs of his family, as they were going about their daily lives, saying that they would be killed if he did not co-operate. Rush further accused Chan of strapping the heroin to his body wearing rubber gloves. Chan protested his innocence and defending his silence during his final plea, reading from a two-page statement: In sentencing Lawrence, the judges found no evidence to support her claim that her life was threatened and although the prosecutors requested a lighter 20-year sentence due to