April 21
INDONESIA/AUSTRALIA:
Corby escapes death sentence
A distraught Schapelle Corby has screamed and cried after Balinese
prosecutors asked an Indonesian court to convict her and jail her for
life.
Prosecutor I Bagus Wiswantanu told the Denpasar District Court that Corby,
arrested at Denpasar airport last year, should be found guilty of
importing 4.2 kg of marijuana.
He said the case against her was "convincing" but, as expected, he did not
ask that the Gold Coast woman be sentenced to death.
Corby, who took a tranquiliser before today's hearing, told relatives
later that the prosecutors' demand was "not fair".
"The defendant's actions can ruin the image of Bali as a tourist
destination," Wiswantanu told the trial's 3-judge panel who must
ultimately determine Corby's fate.
"The defendant's actions can make Bali look like a drug haven and affect
young people's lives."
Wiswantanu also asked the trials' 3 judges to impose a 100 million rupiah
($A13,500) fine.
In Indonesia, a life sentence means a prisoner spends the rest of his or
her life behind bars.
Today's submission by the prosecution is only a recommendation.
It will be up to the judges to determine Corby's guilt or innocence and
imppose any sentence. They are not expected to hand down a verdict for
several weeks.
Corby maintains she is not guilty.
Although she dodged the possibility of being condemned to death, Corby was
in tears as the prosecutor spoke.
The court adjourned her trial until next week, when her defence team is
expected to make a submission.
When today's proceedings ended, Corby turned and walked to her sister
Mercedes and the pair hugged, both weeping.
"It's not fair," the distraught Corby said as Mercedes told her all would
be "okay".
Corby was then walked to a holding cell at the rear of the court where she
sat wailing in a high pitched scream as she was hugged by her cousin from
Perth, Melissa Younger.
The cell was surrounded by scores of camera operators, although a heavy
police presence insured the chaos of last week's court appearance was not
repeated.
The former Gold Coast beauty student was later taken back to Bali's main
prison.
Hours earlier, she arrived at the court in a police bus, emerging from the
vehicle in handcuffs.
She was flanked by 10 Indonesian police officers as she slowly made her
way through a chaotic media scrum to a holding cell next to the court.
Corby looked weak and at times held her hands together as if she was
praying.
She kept her head down and did not reply to questions shouted at her by
reporters.
On her 2 previous court appearances this month, proceedings had to be
postponed after she complained of being sick.
Last week, she fainted in the crowded court and earlier this week
underwent court-ordered medical tests.
Defence lawyer Lely Lubis said a doctor had given Corby a tranquiliser to
help her get through today's hearing.
"I told her to keep her spirits up," the lawyer said.
Corby's family has repeatedly raised concerns about her mental condition
because of the stress of the high-profile trial.
Lubis said she could understand how "anyone can go crazy here, anyone can
get depression from this".
(source: The Age)
