Chief of Denpasar court receives suspicious letter

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.