Corby dodged a bullet

Prosecutor says firing squad was on table for Aussie

SCHAPELLE Corby was a pen stroke from the firing squad.

A special investigation by News Corp can reveal the death penalty was on the table for Corby but it wasn’t her blue eyes, Australian accent or the extraordinary media interest in the beauty school dropout that saved her from execution.

In short, it was the malleability of youth and Indonesia’s belief in rehabilitation.

For the first time, the man who prosecuted Corby – Ida Bagus Wiswantanu – has revealed that, after careful consideration, Corby was given a second chance at life because of her young age, despite her refusal to admit guilt.

He said punishment is like medicine for the ailing. But the question was how much medicine was required for Corby.

“I felt that Corby can still rehabilitate herself so the death sentence is not the punishment. If she got the death sentence, she cannot rehabilitate. But I felt that Corby has the chance to fix herself,” Mr Wiswantanu said.

He said considerations of humanity also came in. “For sure it was discussed,” he said of the death penalty option.

“We discussed it. We considered the level of medicine, or how many years, is needed for her and finally we decided not to give the death sentence because she can be rehabilitated.”

The Bali prosecutors then sent their recommendation to Jakarta.

Mr Wiswantanu said it was the attorney-general, in Jakarta, who signed off on the life sentence demand.

He said the fact Corby was Australian or any considerations of the relationship with Indonesia did not enter into the decision-making processes.

Asked if the medicine had worked, given Corby maintains her innocence, Mr Wiswantanu was blunt.

“Like a doctor who gives medicine for the flu, sometimes we get the flu again … not all medicine will work in all people,” he said.

“For sure it concerns me because as a law enforcer we really hope that she will not repeat the crime again. Because law enforcers have the task of maintaining security and public order, we hope she never does the same again.”

Mr Wiswantanu said Corby got a more than fair trial.

At the time of Corby’s arrest in 2004, the 4.2kg of marijuana found in her boogie board bag was a large amount for Bali. Mr Wiswantanu said the impact of this on the community needed to be taken into account.

“The impact on the community became a consideration at the time ... especially because this was a foreigner bringing drugs from another country to Indonesia so it can threaten security and public order,” he said.