Security tightened at RI mission after death threat
Security tightened at RI mission after death threat
Agence France-Presse, Perth, Australia
Security at the Indonesian consulate in Perth was tightened on Wednesday after the mission received a threat saying staff would be killed unless an Australian woman on trial for drug trafficking in Bali was released immediately.
The anonymous death threat -- sent along with two bullets -- arrived at the consulate a few days ago.
Police have not revealed details of the letter, but it referred to Schapelle Corby, an Australian woman accused of smuggling marijuana into Bali and whose case has received widespread publicity here.
"If Schapelle Corby is not released immediately you will all receive one of these bullets through the brain," The Australian newspaper quoted the letter as saying.
Western Australian police, who are handling the threat, have "upped the ante" on security for consulate staff, assistant commissioner Dave Caporn said.
"Obviously, the Schapelle Corby case has stirred the emotions of Australians. Everyone has their own view on whether she is guilty or not guilty," he said.
"This person has taken it to the next level... we are taking significant measures to make sure these people (staff) are safe."
Justice Minister Chris Ellison said those responsible for the threat would be brought to justice.
"This sort of action where you make threats to Indonesians in Australia is totally un-Australian, it's totally unacceptable, and I can assure the Indonesian government that we will investigate this fully to ensure that we bring the perpetrators to justice," Ellison told Channel Nine television.
Indonesian foreign affairs spokesman Yuri Thamrin told the Australian that consulate staff had reported the threat to Australian police.
"It's a very serious threat, of course they're upset," he said.
Corby, a 27-year-old beauty therapist from Queensland's Gold Coast, faces possible death by firing squad after being caught with 4.1 kilograms of cannabis in her unlocked bodyboard bag at Bali's airport last October.
Corby has denied placing the drugs in her luggage.
Her legal team has produced a witness claiming Corby was unwittingly used as a courier by drug traffickers working with baggage handlers at airports on the Gold Coast and in Sydney.
Bali prosecutors will present their sentencing submissions to the court on Thursday. It is not known whether they will seek the death penalty.
Canberra has said it will seek clemency if Corby is sentenced to death and will also examine the possibility of her serving any sentence handed down in Australia.
The incident comes as Canberra and Jakarta work on improving ties, strained in recent years but markedly improved since Australia led relief work after the devastating tsunami that wrecked Indonesia's Aceh province in December.