Schapelle Corby To Be Released?

I have not written on Ms. Corby's case or the "suffering" she is 'enduring' in Kerobokan prison on the holiday paradise island of Bali in my second home of Indonesia. There is no reason for this other than there not being anything newsworthy or of note to write about until now.

The latest news is a push seemingly by Corby's Indonesian lawyer, Iskandar Nawing, presumably on the insistence of the Corby family. The reality is that the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or SBY to his mates, has had the clemency appeal since July 2010 and has yet to act on it. I suppose I could speculate as to why that is, but I won't for now. I will wait and see what comments, if any, get made to this post.

There has been no official statement from the Indonesian Supreme Court, at least as far as I recall (note to self: go back and check through files), that says exactly what the Supreme Court recommendation was. But, most pundits believe that the recommendation was for a sentence cut of 10 years on the original 20-year sentence. Under Indonesian law a prisoner becomes eligible for parole after having served 2/3 of their sentence. Corby has been in jail for about 6.5 years and as such she would be getting close to making an application for release.

Parole, like anywhere else, can be complicated by a number of issues. As such the application for release would be assessed against a whole range of criteria including not only the prisoners behaviour during their incarceration, but also what is in the best interest of the prisoner and their state of health.

It would seem that Nawing's push is a clear attempt to get some resolution on the clemency appeal by trying to force SBY's hand. However, it is interesting that no one is talking about why SBY has not signed off on the recommendation.

Prisoner Transfer Agreements -- Australia and Indonesia...

The purpose of a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) is to allow foreign nationals incarcerated overseas to serve out the remaining portion of their sentence in their home countries. A PTA between Australia and Indonesia is something that has been in the pipeline for a while. If you are an Australian or an Indonesian incarcerated in a foreign prison, then that pipeline has been very long to date, and would seem to be a little longer still before there is any light at the end of this pipeline.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marty Natalegawa, has admitted as much. Natalegawa is a talented young diplomat who in a rapidly rising career leading to his appointment as FM held key ambassadorial posts in the UK and at the UN. He is a very intelligent man who is economical in his choice of words and rarely misspeaks. So, when he speaks it is probably worth paying attention to.

So, when Natalegawa said to the Australian Associated Press (AAP) that the negotiations for a PTA had not stalled, but rather taking time as a consequence of Indonesia being new to the PTA game, then that is where the game is at. The PTA will impact on the lives of those prisoners who have not been sentenced to death in an Indonesian court. Unfortunately, for those Australians on death row there is zero chance of them being repatriated to Australia to serve out the remainder of their respective sentences and executed.

However, a PTA will potentially permit the likes of Schapelle Corby and Renae Lawrence to be returned to Australia to serve out the remainder of their custodial sentences in an Australian prison.

The devil is in the detail of a PTA. And, this is where negotiations have slowed to a trickle in the very long pipeline that Natalegawa has alluded to. For example, Indonesia has taken a very strong public international stance on drugs and drug smuggling. Therefore, there are quarters within the Indonesian community that are reluctant to include drug smugglers on the list of prisoners who can be returned under a PTA. There is a fear that Australia does not deal with drugs as harshly as they do in Indonesia. And, they are right, we do not execute people period. That fear is that Corby and Lawrence would be returned to Australia under a PTA and then released shortly after their return.

The details are likely to include specific conditions on how much time is to be served in Australia prior to a release. The difficulty here is that Indonesia works on a remission system where prisoners sentences are cut each year, sometimes twice a year, on religious / national holidays for good behaviour. In contrast, the Australian system works on a head sentence and a non-parole period. Ultimately, the same amount of time will conceivably be served under both situations but these are the sorts of details that need to be hammered out before an agreement can be reached.

Another critical issue still to be agreed is how much time prisoners will be required to serve before becoming eligible for a PTA return to their home country. There have been suggestions that Australians serving time in Indonesian jails will have to do almost 3/4 of their sentence before becoming eligible. However, this is unlikely, assuming those on the Australian side of the debate are knowledgeable and well-informed on the Indonesian system. A person convicted in Indonesia is likely to only do 3/4 of their original sentence, and in all likelihood less than 3/4, with remissions for good behaviour and the like.

The classic example here is none other than the son of the former president (dictator), Tommy Soeharto. Tommy was convicted of a little graft and then the subsequent premeditated murder for hire of a Supreme Court justice. The man ended up doing about 2/3 of his original sentence.

So, in that regard a PTA might not make a lot make a lot of sense for most Australians incarcerated in Indonesia. It is also unlikely that the 3/4 of the sentence demand will be met.

It would seem that a PTA will become a reality in the future, but how far into the future remains to be seen.

Dying In Jail

I wonder what it is like to have spent 56 years in prison? I wonder this from the outside and have no intention of ever wanting to find out from the inside. I wonder what it is like to have spent more than half of your 80 years of life behind bars?

Eric Thomas Turner (pictured), was a quadruple murder and the last inmate in a NSW prison that had been sentenced to death. The death sentence was later commuted to life in prison. He was released but murdered again. In this case 'was' is the operative word as Turner has died in prison as a result of complications from lung cancer.

Turner was an evil man who killed his first person at the young age of 20 in 1948. His first victim was his then 15-year-old girlfriend, Claire Sullivan. His second victim was Frank Sullivan, Claire's father. He strangled Claire and he axed the father. He was sentenced to death on 15 December 1948.

His sentence was commuted to life in prison. I am not sure why there is no truth in sentencing and when a person is sentenced to life in prison then this is exactly what it means; you die there! However, maybe after 22 years behind bars the State felt sorry for the fella or believed him rehabilitated because he was released in 1970.

Turner seems to have kept out of trouble for a while. But, perhaps it is true, "once a killer always a killer," because 3 years after his release Turner killed his mother-in-law, Harriet Field, by stabbing her 11 times. Turner's stepson, John Pilz, tried to intervene to save his grandmother and Turner killed him as well.

Not surprisingly the community was somewhat outraged that Turner was released in the first place. Nevertheless, he was convicted and again sentenced to life imprisonment. This sentence was then redetermined. The life sentence remained but a non-parole period of 20 years was set. Therefore, since 1993 Turner has been eligible to seek parole. However, it was not until his illness had become too much for him that he had sort to be released on parole.

He did seek release in 2007. The application for release was refused.

Turner was the longest serving prisoner in the NSW correctional system. However, the title of the longest continuous serving prisoner goes to the 84-year-old William "The Mutilator" McDonald. McDonald was sentenced in 1963 to life in prison for the murder of four homeless men.

As I said, I wonder what it must be like to spend so much time behind bars?