Sentence cuts for Lawrence, Corby
The Age
Tuesday August 18, 2009
AS FELLOW inmates cheered "Daddy, Daddy", Renae Lawrence took part in an old-fashioned sack race at Bali's Kerobokan prison during celebrations for Indonesia's Independence Day yesterday.Lawrence, a member of the Bali nine heroin-smuggling syndicate, was given another five months off her prison sentence as part of the customary Independence Day remissions. The other Bali nine members missed out as they are ineligible, having been handed life sentences or the death penalty.But Schapelle Corby, the former Gold Coast beautician convicted of smuggling high-grade marijuana into Bali, got a four-month cut in her sentence.Both Lawrence and Corby are now due for release in November 2023, even though they were both initially given 20-year terms and Corby was arrested a year earlier.Corby has missed out on remissions due to her poor behaviour in Kerobokan that has included bringing a mobile phone into the prison.While Corby continues to make regular appearances in the tabloid press due to her battle with depression, Lawrence is quietly serving out her sentence and is now an assistant "tamping", a position of seniority in the prison population in which she plays a key role in settling disputes.Lawrence also does odd jobs around the prison and is popular with inmates, hence her nickname "Daddy".Prison governor Siswanto said the games were useful because they "make people smile, make people laugh, it's good for them".Lawrence made the final of the sack race but came last. Martin Stephens, another Bali nine member, had the same result.Corby stayed in her cell but several members of the Bali nine watched the festivities. Among them were Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who face execution by firing squad.-- With AMILIA ROSA
© 2009 The Age
