(22 Oct 2010) SHOTLIST
1. Exterior of Indonesian Foreign Ministry office
2. Indonesian Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, entering room and taking his seat
3. Cutaway of media
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Marty Natalegawa, Indonesian Foreign Minister:
"All I am saying is I have been made aware of the continued attention by the Australian government on the case, and at the same time the respect of the Australian government that this is essentially a process that must be allowed to take its natural course and we are not going to as I said give running commentary on where we are."
5. Cutaway of briefing
6. Cutaway of media
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Marty Natalegawa, Indonesian Foreign Minister:
"It's not for the minister of foreign affairs to be giving a running commentary of the benefit or otherwise of the clemency application. This is a matter that will no doubt be given careful consideration by the relevant ministries concerned and especially by the authority that will grant, or not grant, the clemency. I think at the moment this is where we are at the clemency, as I understand it is being submitted (so) let the natural process take its course."
8. Wide of Natalegawa
STORYLINE
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa refused to give a "running commentary" to the media regarding the clemency bid by the Australian government for its citizen Schapelle Corby, who was jailed for 20 years in 2005 after being caught with four kilograms (8.8 pounds) of marijuana in her luggage.
Natalegawa said the request would be considered carefully but declined to confirm reports that his ministry had recommended President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to cut the Queenslander's 20-year jail term.
"It's not for the minister of foreign affairs to be giving a running commentary on the benefits or otherwise of the clemency application," Natalegawa told reporters in Jakarta.
Natalegawa said he was aware of Australia's stance on Corby's case.
"I have been made aware of the continued concern and continued attention by the Australian government for the case," he added.
"I think the Australian government is also aware that there is a process that must be gone through," Natalegawa said while asking Canberra to be patient and let the "natural process take its course."
Corby was sentenced to 20 years' jail after she was caught at Bali's airport with a significant amount of marijuana in 2004.
The marijuana was found by airport officials in Corby's surfboard bag.
Corby's lawyers this year applied for presidential clemency on humanitarian grounds, saying she was suffering from a mental illness that could endanger her life.
A Supreme Court Judge considered the bid and delivered his opinion to Dr Yudhoyono's office in July.
Sources have said that the judge recommended Corby's sentence be halved to 10 years.
Dr Yudhoyono, who has said in the past that he would not pardon drug traffickers, is expected to make a decision on Corby's clemency bid in the coming months.
Clemency applications usually require prisoners to admit their guilt and apologise for their crimes, which Corby has not done.
Dozens of foreigners are arrested or convicted of drug smuggling every year in Indonesia, most of them African or Asians.
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