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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Indonesia will consider pleas for clemency (Schapelle Corby) Karlis Salna, AAP South-East Asia Correspondent Sidney Morning Herald Friday 08 Jul 2011 Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd raised the issue of clemency for Australians facing death or serving long sentences in Indonesian jails during a visit to Jakarta on Friday. His visit comes after the Indonesian Supreme Court announced on Wednesday it had rejected Bali Nine ringleader Myuran Sukumaran's final appeal against his death sentence for his part in the 2005 plot to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia. Sukumaran was the last of the Bali Nine with an appeal pending, and like fellow member Andrew Chan, must now rely on clemency from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono if he is to avoid a firing squad. "On each occasion that I have visited Indonesia in recent years these cases have been raised by me. Today was no exception," Mr Rudd said on Friday evening. "As I have said on many occasions in the past, should an application for clemency become necessary, which it has, then we, the Australian government, would lend our full support to that application and that is why I have raised that matter." Mr Rudd raised the issue on Friday afternoon during a two-hour meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa. Dr Natalegawa said it was understandable that Mr Rudd and the Australian government had raised the matter, adding that the Indonesian president did the same when Indonesians faced capital punishment or serious penalties in other countries. "This is a serious matter and I am sure the president will give it the kind of attention it deserves," he said. "This is not the first time ... that the issue has been raised and we do exactly the same for our nationals. "So it is one of those things that ministers and leaders do as a matter of course, to reflect our attention and concern for the fate of our nationals." The comments come after Dr Yudhoyono accused Saudi Arabia of breaking the "norms and manners" of international relations when it beheaded an Indonesian maid for murder. Jakarta also recently paid $503,000 in "blood money" to a Saudi family so it would agree to spare another maid from execution. Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran have said they were likely to apply to the president for clemency. Scott Rush, who in May had his death sentence for his part in the Bali Nine plot commuted to life in prison, has also indicated he would do likewise. Corby, who is serving a 20-year term for smuggling cannabis into Indonesia, lodged her request almost a year ago. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/indonesia-will-consider-pleas-for-clemency-20110708-1h75t.html
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