Australian drug suspect appeals to SBY for pardon
Australian drug suspect appeals to SBY for pardon
Agencies
Jakarta
An Australian facing the death penalty for allegedly smuggling
marijuana into Bali has appealed to Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono to set her free, just days before a court is
due to deliver its verdict, according to a report on Sunday.
Schapelle Corby, a 27-year-old student beautician, was
arrested in Bali in October when airport authorities found 4.1
kilograms (9 pounds) of marijuana in her surfboard bag.
Defense lawyers claim she was the unwitting victim of an
Australian gang that used her luggage to transport marijuana on a
domestic flight but failed to remove it before she flew on to
Indonesia.
"I cry myself to sleep each night wondering why this happened
to me," Corby wrote in a letter published in Sydney's Sunday
Telegraph newspaper.
"Dear President Yudhoyono, you hold the key. Please set me
free," she added in her message to the Indonesian president. "I
have done enough time for this terrible crime that I promise you
that I did not do. Please set me free. That is the truth."
Prosecutors have demanded a life sentence for Corby, but the
Denpasar District Court could still impose a death sentence. The
court is scheduled to issue its verdict on May 27, 2005.
Corby's case has generated unprecedented interest in the
Australian media, which has overwhelmingly painted a sympathetic
picture of the accused smuggler.
Opinion polls have shown the overwhelming majority of
Australians believe she is innocent.
Indonesia's ambassador to Australia said last week staff at
the embassy in Canberra had received several death threats linked
to the Corby case.
Corby's case has prompted Australia to offer Indonesia to sign
a transfer of sentenced-person (TSP) treaty, which an Indonesian
senior official said would be discussed between the government
and the House of Representatives.
Director general of law administration at the Ministry of
Justice and Human Rights Zulkarnaen Yunus told Antara on Sunday
the government was persuading lawmakers to approve the treaty.
"Australia needs only to send a formal request and a draft of
the treaty through the diplomatic channels available," Zulkarnaen
said, adding that Australia has briefed Indonesia about the
treaty it signed with Thailand.
If ratified, the treaty would allow Australian citizens
convicted in Indonesia to serve their jail sentences in Australia
and vice versa.
There are three Indonesian nationals serving prison terms in
Australia, one of them for 20 years after being convicted for a
drug-related crime.
Zulkarnaen said Indonesia was studying the Australia-Thailand
TSP treaty, which enables repatriation of an Australian convicted
in Thailand after serving one third of his or her jail term.
Other options being examined are direct transfers of convicted
persons and limitation of convicts subject to the treaty to those
sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison.
"Someone who is sentenced for life has to have his or her
prison term reduced to 20 years through appeal or remission
before repatriation," Zulkarnaen said.
The treaty, however, would exclude convicts who are sentenced
to death, he added.
Indonesia is negotiating such a treaty with France.