JAKARTA (AP): Indonesia said on Wednesday it is willing to make a prisoner transfer deal with Australia, possibly paving the way for an Australian beauty student - on trial in Bali for drug smuggling - to serve her sentence in her own country if convicted.
On Tuesday, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he was discussing a transfer deal with Indonesian authorities.
A Bali court is expected to deliver a verdict in the case of Schapelle Corby on May 27.
Corby, 27, was arrested in Bali in October when airport authorities found 4.1 kilograms (9 pounds) of marijuana in her surfboard bag. Defense lawyers claim she was the unwitting victim of an Australian gang that used her luggage to transport marijuana on a domestic flight but failed to remove it before sheflew on to Indonesia.
Drug smuggling is punishable by death under Indonesian law, but prosecutors are seeking a life sentence in this case.
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said that he had not received a formal letter from Australia regarding a prisoner transfer, but that his government would consider it.
"In the practices of international relations, the handing over of convicts to their original country is not a strange thing," Hassan said. "We are open, but what is needed is an agreement on transfer of prisoners that is effective in general."
Downer has said his proposed prisoner transfer arrangement was not aimed specifically at Corby, because no verdict has yet been delivered in her case.
However, the government of Prime Minister John Howard has been under intense pressure to act Corby's behalf. The case has received massive media attention in Australia, where most respondents to television station polls saying they believe Corby is innocent. (**)
Taken from The Jakarta Post
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