Court to hear Australian's Bali drug appeal

An appeals judge agreed today to hear new evidence in defence of an Australian woman sentenced to 20 years in prison for smuggling drugs into Indonesia, including testimony from witnesses who claim marijuana found in her bag was planted, an official said.

Schapelle Corby’s lawyers will be allowed to present 12 new witnesses at a hearing at Denpasar District Court, said Made Gusti Lingga, chief of the Bali High Court, in response to a request by the defence for an appeal.

After the evidence is heard, the High Court will decide if her 20-year prison sentence should be reconsidered, Lingga said.

Corby, 27, was sentenced in May to 20 years in prison for smuggling nine pounds of marijuana onto the resort island of Bali in her surfboard bag. She claims the drugs were planted by baggage handlers in Australia.

The new defence witnesses are expected to tell the Denpasar District Court, which handed down the original verdict, that “they heard the drugs were planted” in the bag of the former beauty school student, Lingga said.