The ex-husband of an Australian mother of five accused of smuggling seven kilos of cocaine and heroin into Taiwan has failed to appear in court to support her defense.
Debbie Voulgaris, 57, was arrested at Taoyuan International Airport on December 10 last year after drugs were allegedly found in black plastic bags in her suitcase when she arrived on a flight from Malaysia.
She now faces the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted of drug trafficking.
Taiwanese police claim she initially “vehemently denied” she knew about the drugs, before later blaming someone else.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia in May, Mr Voulgaris – who also uses the surname Kyriacou – said he and his wife were set up by long-term business partners as the couple innocently tried to make an overseas investment.
However, Mr Voulgaris did not respond to a subpoena ordering him to testify at the Taoyuan District Court in August and did not show up at his wife’s hearing.
During the hearing, Judge Chen Yen-Nien revealed that the Foreign Office and other authorities had confirmed that Mr Voulgaris, who lives in Melbourne, had received the documents but he did not show up. ABC reports.
Ms Voulgaris’ lawyer, Leon Huang, told the court it would be difficult to extradite Mr Voulgaris because he is an Australian citizen.
He said Ms Voulgaris had now agreed to refrain from further attempts to subpoena him.
Judge Yen-Nien said that without the testimony of Mr Voulgaris – who could help acquit his ex-wife – the court would have to rely on the evidence before them.
Debbie Voulgaris, 57 (pictured), remains locked up in a Taiwan prison over allegations she tried to smuggle drugs into the strict Asian country
Ms Voulgaris’ legal team told the court they would argue she had been a victim of domestic violence, which made her vulnerable to exploitation.
“Due to the suspect’s history as a victim of domestic violence, we believe she is [had] difficulty in rejecting the request [to carry the luggage]said her other lawyer, Lin Chih-erh.
The judge also announced that the ban on Ms Voulgaris communicating with her family would be lifted.
She had previously been banned from corresponding with loved ones to ensure that the testimony Mr Voulgaris may have given as a witness in her case would not be tainted.
Ms Voulgaris appeared concerned as she sat next to her legal team listening to the proceedings with the help of a Mandarin translator.
But her mood changed to excitement when she heard that the ban would be scrapped.
As the procedure ended and she stood to leave, Ms. Voulgaris told the officials, “Thank you, thank you very much.”
Outside court, Mr Huang said it was disappointing that Mr Voulgaris had not attended the hearing.
‘If [John] showed up, he could have verified or clarified many things for this case,” he told the ABC.
Her ex-husband John Voulgaris, who also uses the surname Kyriacou, did not travel to Taiwan to testify in August after being summoned by the court
In the photo she is being escorted from the airport by officials in December last year
“He said he didn’t believe this was against the law.”
Mr Huang said messages and call records on Ms Voulgaris’ phone will be analyzed to support her claims, but because there is a lot of data it will take some time to collect.
When contacted by Daily Mail Australia about the matter on Thursday, Mr Voulgaris said he did not wish to comment.
Mr Huang said the lifting of the communications ban – which had been in place since she was arrested – meant her children and family would be able to apply to visit her in prison.
Mr Huang said she was “doing well” and being cared for while behind bars, and that he believed she would escape the death penalty if found guilty.
Taiwanese police allege that Ms Voulgaris joined a drug trafficking group that deliberately planned to smuggle the drugs across Asia.
According to the allegations, the criminal group agreed with Debbie Voulgaris to pay a reward of just US$1,800 (AU$2,700), along with the costs of accommodation and transportation.
Authorities reportedly found 7kg of cocaine and heroin in her luggage (photo)
Voulgaris was arrested at Taoyuan International Airport in December (pictured).
The group allegedly gave her luggage to take on the flight, which secretly contained around US$1.25 million (AU$1.88 million) worth of heroin and cocaine, which was picked up by airport X-ray screening.
In May, Mr Voulgaris angrily denounced the allegations, saying he had first met the overseas group 16 years ago and that they had kept in regular contact for business purposes.
“She’s fucking innocent!” he raged. ‘We are set up!
“We don’t know anything about damn drugs and we’ve never seen or touched them in our lives.”
He added: “All we did was a foreign investment.
‘They wanted to invest. I sent $3 million of my money…
‘When I found out [about her arrest]I tried to contact them but they turned off their phones. She hasn’t done anything wrong.’
The case remains in court.