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.