... It will be a silly thing...Malang, East Java (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government must provide an explanation for President Yudhoyono's decision to cut the sentence of Australian marijuana smuggler Schapelle Leigh Corby by five years on humanitarian grounds, according to an observer.
"If the government does not give an explanation, I think this decision will leave the people confused," an International Law observer from Brawijaya University, Ibnu Tricahyo, said here on Friday.
He said the government must give an explanation to the people before granting clemency to Corby. "It will be a silly thing, if government gives clemency to Corby with expectations that the Australian government will do the same to Indonesian prisoners in Australia," Ibnu stated.
He added no prisoner swap deal had yet been struck between Indonesia and Australia.
Yudhoyono on May 15, 2012, announced the decision to grant clemency to Corby, who had been sentenced to 20 years in jail for smuggling marijuana.
Earlier, Minister of Law and Human Rights Amir Syamsuddin said there was no prisoner swap deal in connection with clemency for Corby.
However, Amir noted, if special attention was given to a citizen of a country where many Indonesians were facing legal problems, that country might also reciprocate in kind.
(I025/INE//KR-BSR/F001)
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
