Bid to overturn Schapelle Corby clemency fails

Indonesian court has thrown out an anti-drug group's legal challenge against a presidential decision to slash the jail term of Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby. The state administrative court in Jakarta rejected the challenge from the National Movement Against Narcotics (GRANAT) against the Indonesian president's five-year reduction of Corby's 20-year jail term. “The state administrative court has no right to proceed with the legal challenge by GRANAT. Clemency is a presidential prerogative protected by the Indonesian constitution,” Judge Yodi Martono Wahyunadi said. The court last month examined documents submitted by the group arguing that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's act of clemency in May was unjustified and drug traffickers posed a “dangerous threat” to the younger generation. The group's lawyer Henry Yosodiningrat said they would appeal the decision. “Indonesia is in grief today following the court's decision. It reflects the fact that there's no serious commitment to eradicate narcotics from the country,” he told reporters outside the courtroom. Corby, who turns 35 next week, was convicted in 2005 of smuggling 4.1 kilograms of marijuana onto the resort island of Bali. With other regular remissions, the presidential pardon brought Corby's release date forward to September 20, 2017. Indonesia enforces stiff penalties for drug trafficking, including life imprisonment and death.