Drug suspect seeks Susilo's pardon
Drug suspect seeks Susilo's 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.