Corby gets twenty years.It isn't life as demanded by the prosecutors and it isn't the death penaly as allowed in the Indonesian criminal code, but it's
a hell of a long time for a twenty-seven year old to contemplate, with the
words of her mother echoing.
"The defendant has been proven legally and convincingly guilty of having committed an act of unlawfully importing narcotics into Indonesia," Linton Sirait, the chief of three Indonesian judges, told a court in Denpasar.
Corby tried to smuggle 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) of marijuana into the Indonesian holiday island of Bali in October, the court found. Corby, 27, has protested her innocence, saying the drugs were planted in her surfboard bag by a drug-smuggling ring in Australia.
Following the appeals process, which could take up to two years, Corby may well be repatriated to Australia to serve the remainder of her sentence. This follows
an offer from Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer.
"I think we should be able to negotiate such an agreement with Indonesia reasonably quickly but we'll have to wait and see," he said.
"But the whole question of the transfer of prisoners can't even be considered until the appeals process is complete and the appeals have been unsuccessful. So in those circumstances it would then be a matter for negotiation with the Indonesian Government on the actual transfer, assuming that by then we had completed the prisoner transfer agreement."
Jakartass believes that this is an excessive sentence considering that the consumption of marijuana has not, to my knowledge, led to premeditated murder. Sentences for such crimes are generally much lower in Indonesia.
Furthermore, there are significant doubts in this case as to whether Corby did have foreknowledge of the contents of her surfboard bag. Allegedly, no fingerprint tests were done on the package of marijuana.
The appeal will no doubt highlight the various inconsistencies in the prosecution case. However, as a number of Australian acquaintances here have commented, it would appear that
the Australian media and various individuals have demonstrated extreme arrogance in prejudging the process and outcome of this case.
Jakartass is not related to SillyAsses.
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