Chief of Denpasar court receives suspicious letter
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Bali police were investigating on Monday a letter that had a "bad odor" sent to the chief of the Denpasar court that recently convicted a young Australian woman to 20 years in prison on drug charges.
The police probed the case after Denpasar District Court chief I Nengah Suriada reported that he had received a letter with a bad odor on Friday.
"The letter with the bad odor that made me dizzy was found on Friday. When I returned to the office on Monday, the bad odor was still there, so I reported it to the police," Suriada was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.
Last Wednesday, Australian federal police sealed off the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra after a "biological agent" was found in a package sent to the building. The embassy reopened after 52 staff members complete a two-day quarantine period.
The Australian police said the powder did not contain any substance that could endanger human health or the environment.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the package, sent in an envelope addressed to Ambassador Imron Cotan, was apparently in retaliation for the sentencing of Corby.
The letter sent to the Denpasar court was made to look as if it had been mailed by the Australian Consulate in Bali. Police are still trying to determine the sender.
Bali Provincial Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Reniban said that the police had dispatched five officers from the police forensic laboratory to investigate.
The five officers were seen combing the office of Suriada on Monday, checking and examining anything suspicious including the letter, the envelope of which had been torn. The letter was taken to the police laboratory for further investigation. The letter was signed by Rosstysoe and was dated June this year.
The letter asked the district court to provide the photocopy of the court decree that jailed Schapelle Leigh Corby for 20 years for smuggling marijuana into Bali.
The presence of the suspicious letter stirred panic among judges and employees at the Denpasar District Court, which has been the target of Australian ire after handing down the tough sentence.
Moreover, the finding of the letter came out only days after an envelope of white powder, suspected to be anthrax, was sent to the Indonesian Embassy in Australia, although the white powder later proved to be harmless.
Separately, another judge Linton Sirait, who presided over the Corby case, admitted that he had also recently received a letter from Australia. The letter in English was sent several days before the judges at the district court handed down their sentence on Corby, but arrived at the district court recently.
"What is the content of the letter? Let us translate the letter together," Linton was quoted as saying by Antara, while smiling.