Pubdate: Wed, 20 Apr 2005
Source: Courier-Mail, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 News Limited
Contact:  http://www.thecouriermail.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/98
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Corby  (Schapelle Corby)

DRUG SUSPECT 'DOESN'T DESERVE DEATH'

ALLEGED drug smuggler Renae Lawrence deserves to go to jail if she has done 
the wrong thing but should not face the death penalty, her father says.

Identifying himself only as Bob, Renae's father said he was "filthy" with 
the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for not allowing his daughter to return 
to Australian for arrest here.

"Apparently they have been tracking this syndicate or whatever you want to 
call it for 10 weeks, knew what was going on and as far as I am concerned 
they should have been let on the plane and arrested at Sydney airport," he 
told the Nine Network.

"I don't care if Renae does five years in jail. She's done the wrong thing. 
She has got to pay for what she done. The death penalty, that's a bit much."

He said some people committed murder and didn't get that.

The AFP and the federal government have faced strong criticism for tipping 
off Indonesian police about the alleged drug ring, leading to the arrests 
of nine Australians in Bali where the death penalty applies for drug 
trafficking.

The father said what his daughter had been accused of was wrong, but she 
should have been allowed to return to Australia and arrested on home soil.

"If the federal police had let her come back into the country, been 
arrested at the Sydney airport or wherever they came in, she would have got 
a couple of years jail, five years jail, 10 years jail, I wouldn't care," 
he said.

"I'd say okay you done the crime, you do the time."

To critics who said his daughter should face the consequences of her 
actions, Bob said: "She's not their daughter."

Ms Lawrence, 27, Wallsend, near Newcastle, and eight men remain in police 
custody in Bali today where they will face further questioning over their 
alleged roles in a plot to smuggle 11.25kg of heroin into Sydney.

The death penalty applies for the most serious drug trafficking charges in 
Indonesia.

Bob said he first learned of his daughter's arrest from the Department of 
Foreign Affairs and Trade.

"I was devastated. I couldn't believe it to start with," he said.

"Even now it is hard to believe that she could be so silly. She was 
destitute for money. She was travelling really bad for money.

"Her car had broken down, not enough money to fix it and we couldn't help 
her out much. She would have been desperate for money."

Bob said his daughter may not have understood the repercussions of her actions.

"I'm not knocking her but she's not the brightest kid in the world but 
she's not the silliest kid in the world either but this is the silliest 
thing she has ever done in her life," he said.

"She's usually warm and loving. Everybody that knows her loves her. She's a 
good kid. She's just made a very very bad mistake."
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