And it's good not to hear from the sarcastic-soft-pillow-Downer and foot-in-mouth-I'll-discredit–you-Kelty on the Corby issue. Hopefully they are sidelined from making comment.
Last Update: Tuesday, July 5, 2005. 8:49am (AEST)
Schapelle Corby ... judges agree to new hearings. (AFP)
Corby lawyer doubts key witness will come forward
By Tim Palmer in Jakarta and staff reporters
Schapelle Corby's Indonesian lawyer says there is little prospect of presenting any witness who will claim ownership of the drugs found in the Gold Coast woman's bag to re-opened hearings.
On Monday, the chief judge of Bali's High Court indicated he anticipated the defence would want to bring such a witness to the proposed hearings.
The chief judge, in announcing that Denpasar's District Court would sit again to hear more witnesses if they could be brought, made it clear the focus was on anyone who could identify or admit to being the person who owned the drugs, if it was someone other than Schapelle Corby.
Corby is serving a 20-year jail sentence in Indonesia for taking 4 kilograms of marijuana into Bali.
Recently-recruited defence lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea, who claimed his lobbying of the judges and of their superiors in Jakarta had brought about the new hearings, has moved to lower expectations of any new defence case.
He says the defence team will concentrate on airline and airport staff from Brisbane to raise reasonable doubt, and does not expect to deliver to the Bali court either the owner or someone claiming direct knowledge of the ownership of the drugs.
"It looks like pessimism to get the witness like that because nobody [did] interrogation in Australia, nobody helps us in Australia, so I'm not optimistic to get that," he said.
"Beside that, if somebody did it, nobody will tell the truth because he will face criminal [charges] in Australia, isn't it?"
Mr Hutapea added: "The key witness is the Customs officer who is on duty at Brisbane airport when Corby checked into Brisbane airport. There is no drug in the boogie board.
"I want somebody from Qantas check-in ... the person who must give testimony and also the Customs [officer]."
Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison says he has written to Qantas and the Sydney and Brisbane airports advising them of a request from Corby's legal team for some baggage handlers and workers to give evidence at the hearings.
Senator Ellison says the Government is also looking at video conferencing as an option to enable prisoners to appear as witnesses.
"That could make it easier for witnesses to give evidence, and they might be more inclined to do so by way of video conferencing and that's something we can explore," he said.
