Corby's last hearing brings in two Aussies
Corby's last hearing brings in two Aussies
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post/Denpasar
After hearing testimony on Wednesday from two Brisbane-based
employees of Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd., the Denpasar
District Court closed the second trial for an Australian woman
convicted of smuggling drugs into Bali.
During the hearing, the last of two sessions, the court cross-
examined Howard John Park, 44, a check-in counter officer at
Brisbane airport, and Ricky Clark, 27, a customer agency officer
at the airport. They were on duty when Schapelle Leigh Corby
boarded her flight to Bali last year.
"This hearing is closed. But the possibility of another trial
is not closed if there is a decision from the High Court,"
presiding judge Linton Sirait said.
The Bali High Court could reach a decision on Corby's appeal
later this month.
Corby wept after the judge made the announcement.
According to prosecutor Ida Bagus Wiswantanu, the cross-
examination of the two witnesses would not influence the court's
decision on the appeal.
"Based on the previous court ruling, this proceeding was held
to find out if anyone put the marijuana in Corby's bag and who
that might have been," Wiswantanu said after the trial.
Under Indonesia's legal system, a higher court can compel a
lower court to hear from additional witnesses as part of the
appeals process.
Corby, 28, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in May for
smuggling 4.2 kilograms of marijuana into Bali.
After Corby's lawyers appealed, the Bali High Court ordered
the district court to hear the testimony of additional witnesses
who the defense claimed could show their client had no links to
the drugs found in her bag when she reached Bali.
In the cross-examination on Wednesday, Park confirmed that he
was on duty when Corby was about to fly from Brisbane to Sydney.
He said that from the flight record, dated Oct. 8, 2004, there
was nothing wrong with Corby's luggage during check-in. There
were no "strong smells" coming from the bag that would have
required it to be opened and checked, he said.
However, he said Corby was asked to take her oversize
surfboard bag to a customer agency officer.
Clark confirmed Park's statement, saying the company's record
showed that none of Corby's luggage was searched before she
boarded flight QF-501 from Brisbane to Sydney.
When questioned by the judge, Park said passengers' luggage at
Brisbane airport was not put through an X-ray machine.
Clark, who has been working at the airport for two years, said
the airport had imposed stricter checks following Corby's case.
During the trial, Corby's team of lawyers also protested over
the change in the weight of the evidence while at the
prosecutor's office. When weighed before the panel of judges, the
surfboard bag and its contents weighed 3.6 kilograms, while the
indictment says the bag and its contents weighed 4.2 kilograms.
"We are afraid it will tarnish the image of the Indonesian
courts because the evidence, which should not be contaminated, is
losing weight," lawyer Hotman Paris said.
Responding to the charge, the prosecutor said the weight
difference could be explained by the drying out of the marijuana
over the course of nearly a year.
The defense also asked the court to consider hearing the
testimony of an Australian prisoner via videolink. Corby's
lawyers claim the prisoner has knowledge of the owner of the
marijuana found in Corby's bag.
The panel of judges only said the videolink would only be
possible with a decision on the matter from the high court.
After the hearing, Hotman reportedly showed off two guns to
journalists outside the district court.
While opening his briefcase, he reportedly produced a press
release on the case, as well as two guns wrapped in brown paper.
He put one of the guns in his pants' pocket and the other back in
his briefcase.
"Do not try to rob me, I'll shoot (you)," he said with a
laugh, Antara reported.