Lawyers for Schapelle Corby, 27, said they would appeal the verdict, which triggered outrage from her family and thrust Bali under the spotlight with Indonesia’s police chief labeling it a hub for international drug trafficking syndicates.
“The panel of judges declares the defendant legally and convincingly guilty of the crime of illegal importation of narcotics,” chief judge Linton Sirait told a hearing that was watched live in Australia.
As soon as Sirait read the verdict, Corby’s mother, Rosleigh Rose, shouted at the three judges on the panel: “Liar, liar. Honey, we are going to take you home.”
Wearing pink trousers and a black blouse, an emotional Corby turned to her mother and pleaded with her to calm down. “Mum, stop, it’s okay,” she cried, holding her hand up in a motion for her mother to stop yelling.
Standing for the verdict and occasionally slapping her forehead with her palm in grief, Corby kept mouthing the word “20” in Indonesian, clearly stunned by the sentence. She shook off the arm of a court official who appeared to want to calm her as she was on the verge of breaking down.
Prosecutors had demanded life in jail for Corby, who has repeatedly argued the drugs found by airport officials in her unlocked bag on the famous resort island last year were not hers and that they were planted.
Case has transfixed a nation
The trial has gripped Australia, which enjoyed a period of warm relations with its giant neighbor after years of rockiness.
Image: Schapelle Corby.
Bagus Othman / Reuters
Schapelle Corby cries after being sentenced to 20 years in jail, in Denpasar, Bali, on Friday.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he did not believe the case would damage ties.
Corby’s plight has triggered a series of threats against Indonesian missions in Australia, including death threats against diplomats.
Her lawyers have insisted many people could have put the drugs into their client’s bodyboard bag along the way from Brisbane to Bali, especially because it was not locked.
Corby, from Australia’s eastern Gold Coast, changed planes in Sydney and her defense team has said she was the victim of a drug ring running narcotics from Brisbane to Sydney.
For some reason, the drugs were not removed from her bag in Sydney, the defense has said.
Plea to Indonesian president
Corby’s family and friends pleaded with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to intervene, saying Australians had helped the country in times of need, especially after a giant earthquake and tsunami smashed into Aceh province on Dec. 26.
“Mr. President we have seen enough innocent lives wasted in the past year, please sir let’s not waste another innocent life,” said friend Glen Jeffers in front of a throng of Australian and Indonesian media in Bali after the verdict.
“All Australia asks is that you give Schapelle back to us. Schapelle is innocent," he said.
Downer said the two governments would begin formal discussions during the next 10 days about a prisoner transfer agreement that could see Corby serve her time in Australia if her appeals process is exhausted without success.
“We obviously feel sorry for Schapelle Corby and her family at this very difficult time,” Downer told reporters in Adelaide.
“People have to accept the decision of the court ... we’re relieved the court hasn’t sentenced her to death, which was a concern we initially had," Downer said.
Indonesia, like many Asian nations, imposes tough penalties for drug offences. Australian media have reported that judge Sirait has never acquitted a defendant in some 500 drugs trials. He could have given Corby the death sentence.
Indonesia’s police chief has labeling Bali a hub for international drug trafficking syndicates. Indonesian police arrested nine Australians last month in Bali for alleged heroin trafficking. They have yet to face trial.
RE FUCKIN DICULOUS, for marijuana? A man in Indonesia bombs a club, kills over 200 people and gets 30 months in jail, wow.
