July 26, 2006
Schapelle Corby's legal team is ready to pitch a final appeal
bid to the Indonesian Supreme Court against her drug smuggling
conviction and 20-year prison sentence.
Her lawyers, Erwin Siregar and Haposan Sihombing, visited her at
Bali's Kerobokan Prison today and got her approval for a 20-page
dossier to be presented to the court.
"I think by next week we will already submit our extraordinary
appeal to the district court in Denpasar to be sent to the Supreme
Court," Mr Siregar said.
He also plans to send a letter to Justice Minister Chris Ellison
requesting a detailed information about events at Australian
airports the day Corby was arrested two years ago.
Corby has long said that the 4.1 kilograms of marijuana found in
her boogie board bag at Bali Airport had been planted there by
baggage handlers involved in moving drugs around in Australia.
"When Corby was arrested ... so many drugs were being smuggled
in Australia. So I'd like to have all the document from Mr
Ellison," Mr Siregar said after the meeting with Corby.
He said that he would wait for the minister to reply with the
information and will attach it in the dossier.
"It is not impossible that, maybe, what was inside Corby's bag
was the doing of the same syndicate that smuggled drugs on her day
of her departure. So [his reply] is very important," Mr Siregar
said.
The law regulates that there are three grounds for judicial
review appeal: new evidence, disparity of the decision made by
judges at one of the courts and negligence by the judges.
Mr Siregar was vague when asked about what arguments he would
make to the Supreme Court.
"In general, people usually say the main point to make for an
extraordinary appeal is new evidence, but I don't agree with that.
There are other reasons to make appeal," he said.
Mr Siregar said one point he would raise would be the refusal by
Corby's trial judges to hold a teleconference to her testimony from
witnesses in Australia.
"We asked many times for the judges to hold a teleconference,
but nothing happened," he said.
He cited as a precedent the use of a teleconference with a
witness in Germany in the recent corruption trial of a high-profile
Indonesian politician Akbar Tandjung.
Mr Siregar said if the Supreme Court judges agreed, he would be
ready to present an Australian witness via a teleconference "who
knows the drugs doesn't belong to Schapelle".
Meanwhile, he said that Corby had not pinned any hopes on a
recent agreement between Australia and Indonesia to set up a
prisoner exchange program.
"To be frank, Schapelle is not interested, because she said she
is innocent, and to agree on an exchange program means she will
have to admit that she is guilty," he said.
Meanwhile, Corby's mother Rosleigh Rose was to return to
Australia today from Bali where she contracted dengue fever.
Schapelle Corby Case Information
AAP