Life term upheld for Bali drug mule
Life term upheld for Bali drug mule
January 14, 2011
Indonesia's top court has rejected the final appeal by Australian drug smuggler Martin Stephens to reduce his life sentence to 10 years, a court spokesman says.
Stephens, 34, a member of the so-called Bali Nine gang, sought a judicial review last year after the country's higher courts upheld his life sentence.
Supreme Court spokesman Djoko Sarwoko on Thursday said there was "no confusion in the previous ruling".
"There's also no new evidence that can be used to help reduce his life sentence," he added.
Stephens was arrested in 2005 at Denpasar airport on the resort island of Bali with 2.9 kilograms of heroin strapped to his legs and stomach.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty had submitted a written statement describing him as a "minor" player in the heroin-smuggling plot, but Mr Sarwoko said that this could not be used as evidence.
Three other members of the Bali Nine drug ring lodged final appeals against their death sentences last year and are waiting for the Supreme Court's verdict.
Besides Stephens, four others - Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj and Thanh Nguyen - are serving life sentences.
Renae Lawrence, the only woman in the group, received 20 years but has had her sentence reduced by almost two years for good behaviour.
Hope fades for Bali ringleaders
Hope fades for Bali ringleaders
Toni O'Loughlin
January 15, 2011
The lawyer for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the convicted heroin traffickers on death row in Bali, says he has little hope for his clients after another of the so-called Bali nine, Martin Stephens, failed to overturn his life sentence.
Chan, 26, and Sukumaran, 29, convicted of organising the attempt to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia in 2005, are on death row awaiting the verdict on their appeal to have their sentence cut to 20 years in prison.
But after the Indonesian Supreme Court's rejection this week of Stephens's argument that his life sentence should be cut to 10 years because he was merely a courier, Chan and Sukumaran's chances of avoiding the firing squad have dwindled.
''I'm disappointed. I think it's a policy to hand out heavy sentences for drug cases,'' Chan and Sukumaran's lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, said. ''These are very young people, yes they did wrong, they violated laws but they should be given a chance to change their lives.''
DFAT officials to meet with Bali Nine inmates Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran
Australian consular officials in Indonesia will visit Bali Nine death-row inmates Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran after it emerged their chances of escaping the firing squad have been boosted. Chan and Sukumaran, who are facing the death penalty for their part in a 2005 plot to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia, are awaiting the outcome of their final appeals.
It has emerged that their chances of escaping death, and having their sentences reduced to 20 years in jail, have received a boost after the judges hearing their final appeals provided a legal opinion that the sanctity of life must be considered.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade today said the Government was aware of the reports but was taking a cautious approach to the development.
"The Denpasar District Court's legal opinion has not been released officially and it would be unwise to speculate on the veracity of a report which has not been officially released by the court," the spokesperson said.
"Furthermore, this is only one step in their judicial review process. The Supreme Court will form its own opinion on the applications and is not bound by the District Court's findings."
The Government would continue to lobby for their lives to be spared, if the the Supreme Court upholds the death sentences already handed down.
"As we have always indicated, if they are unsuccessful in overturning their sentences in the courts, the Australian Government will vigorously support clemency," the spokesperson said.
Consular officials in Canberra had spoken with the families of both Chan and Sukumaran.
The written declaration by the three judges said that the right to life "must not be ignored, reduced (or) taken away by anyone", Fairfax media reported, and was sent from Denpasar District Court to the country's Supreme Court last month.
A final decision by the court on whether the pair will have their lives spared is expected within months.
Their Australian lawyer, Julian McMahon, described the comments from the judges as a "crucial and positive development".
"The recommendation is a careful analysis of the arguments for both prosecution and defence, but it is clearly weighted in favour of not executing," he told AAP.
"It throws open the door to allow the Supreme Court to focus on and implement the sentencing principles which favour reducing the penalty in the circumstances of this case."
If the Supreme Court rejects their final appeals, their chances of escaping death by firing squad will be left to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who has the power to grant clemency.
A third Bali Nine member on death row, Scott Rush, is also waiting to hear if his life will be spared.
Bali nine smuggler marries
Drug mule finds wedded bliss behind bars
TOM ALLARD AND AMILIA ROSA
Last updated 15:54 12/04/2011
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/04/1342.jpg
CAPTIVE COUPLE: Bali nine heroin courier Martin Stephens and his bride Christine Winarni Puspayanti dance at their wedding inside Kerobokan Prison
In a spare room at Kerobokan Prison appointed with flowers and new furniture, well away from the crowded cells, Bali nine drug mule Martin Stephens and his wife, Christine, last night spent their first evening together as a married couple.
The rare conjugal privilege followed a small ceremony and raucous wedding reception yesterday at the penitentiary for the long-time sweethearts, who met shortly after Stephens was caught with more than three kilograms of heroin strapped to his body at Bali's airport.
Dressed in traditional Javanese wedding attire, the couple were betrothed at the prison's chapel, with their parents present, as was Renae Lawrence, another member of the Bali nine smuggling syndicate.
Other members of the Bali nine turned up for the reception, where the prison band played and the newlyweds led the dancing.
According to those invited, marijuana smuggler Schapelle Corby was not there, nor were Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the organisers of the Bali nine drug ring who face the firing squad.
''It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've been to,'' said Adnan Wirawan, Stephens's lawyer. ''The ceremony was sacred, everybody was happy. Today they are celebrating, not thinking about tomorrow ... just celebrating.
''Martin said to me, 'I am doing this for our love. That's it. Nothing else.' ''
Leaving the prison yesterday afternoon, Stephens's mother, Michelle, summed up the day as ''excellent''.
Stephens met Christine Winarni Puspayanti just months after his arrest in 2005. Christine, a convert to Christianity, went to the prison as part of a church group offering spiritual support to the convicts.
Stephens was quickly smitten. Within 12 months, the duo were talking about marriage and children.
Christine has a daughter, Laura, from a previous marriage. Legal appeals, financial constraints and logistics problems delayed the nuptials, but the two remained devoted throughout.
A visitor to Kerobokan's meeting yard would invariably see the duo kissing, limbs entwined, oblivious to their lack of privacy.
Stephens lost an appeal against his life sentence earlier this year. His last remaining options include going through an administrative process available to all convicts in Indonesia who have served five years or more of a life term. That could result in his term being reduced to 20 years. With remissions, Stephens could be free in about six years.
Stephens could also launch a direct appeal for clemency to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
- Sydney Morning Herald
Ms Puspayanti said she was not afraid of the length of her new husband's p
and from a separate article in SMH ; will marrying him in a Bali jail entitle her to an Australian visa?
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Ms Puspayanti said she was not afraid of the length of her new husband's prison sentence.
"I'm not afraid, I'm not thinking about it (his sentence)," Ms Puspayanti said.
"I believe in God. If we're good then God will give us something good too. I was working in a restaurant, but now, I'm only taking care of him. I love him and I'm not afraid with how long his sentence is.
"I'm actually a widow with two children. But for now, I don't want to have kids immediately. I want to have kids when we're in Australia."
Kerobokan Prison Chief Siswanto said a room in the prison had been made into the newlyweds' chamber, just for one night.
"For the newlywed, based on humanity, there should be the first night," he said.
After the wedding, if Stephens' wife wants to visit him then she must follow schedule, Siswanto said
