Age saved Schapelle
Judge still waiting on a confession
IF heroin had been found in Schapelle Corby’s bodyboard bag, she would not be flying home to freedom tonight.
Not that Judge Linton Sirait has wavered in his belief in Corby’s guilt.
In fact, 13 years on — he is still waiting for her confession.
Judge Sirait is 100 per cent certain his decision to find Corby guilty and jail her for 20 years was the right one.
But today he reveals at no stage did the bench of three judges which sat in judgment and decided her fate consider the death penalty or life in jail.
He has for the first time revealed details of the Denpasar District Court’s deliberations in the Corby case.
“No doubt, 100 per cent,” Judge Sirait said when asked if he was still certain they had made the right decision.
“Nothing from the news or any other thing that can make me feel that there was a mistake in deciding the case.
“Until now, no one in Australia has admitted they are the owner of the drugs.”
Now a judge in the Medan High Court, in Sumatra, Judge Sirait said the panel had never considered the death penalty as appropriate for Corby.
They also did not consider her crime was worthy of a life sentence, he said.
Judge Sirait said the death penalty or a life sentence were not on the table because she had smuggled marijuana.
“It’s different if she had brought heroin in that amount, it’s different to bringing heroin, extremely different,” he said.
He is not disappointed Corby’s original 20-year sentence, reduced to 15 years when she received a five-year cut in a successful clemency plea, is ending shy of 13 years.
“That’s the regulation, it is based on the law. It’s not only in Corby’s case, other convicts also get it. It’s normal,” he said.
After the verdict and backlash, Judge Sirait received hundreds of letters from Australians, much of it hate mail, hitting out at the judge and Indonesia. He said it never bothered him.
“I was thinking at the time, never mind. Maybe they don’t understand. Maybe some day they will understand,” he said.
“A truth doesn’t come in a moment. Some day the truth will come out. Maybe some day, for example, she will make a confession.”
And he points out that no one has admitted in Australia to actually owning the drugs or putting them in her bag.
“Not many defendants admit they are guilty. Many of them say they are not guilty . . . but I never declare a defendant guilty without strong consideration, based on fact,” Judge Sirait said.
Asked what he would say to Corby now, he said: “I will tell her, congratulations you are free. I hope you will stay healthy . . . and I hope that you will never be involved in this kind of case again. That’s what I will tell her.”