Add Category
Updated
The Australian woman jailed in Bali for her role in killing an on-duty police officer will need to decide by today whether to appeal her four-year prison sentence.
- British man and co-accused David Taylor will not appeal his sentence of six years
- Connor's lawyer says he will urge her to appeal the sentence
- The High Court will rule on Connor's case within six to eight weeks
The Denpasar Prosecutors office has already announced its decision to appeal in Bali's High Court to have the sentence increased.
During the original trial, the prosecutors demanded Byron Bay woman Sara Connor and her boyfriend be jailed for eight years.
British man David Taylor — who admitted to striking the officer with a pair of binoculars, a mobile phone, and a beer bottle — was sentenced to six years in Kerobokan prison.
His jail term is not being challenged in the High Court and he will not appeal.
Today, Connor's legal team will visit the 46-year-old in jail for the first time since the sentencing and urge her to appeal against the sentence handed down to her by the Denpasar District Court.
"My opinion as a lawyer of course is if the public prosecutor appeals, Sara should also appeal," her lawyer Erwin Siregar told the ABC.
"Because it will look as if she does not appeal she [has] accepted the four years."
Indonesia's higher courts are known for increasing sentences handed down by district courts, but Mr Siregar said there was also a possibility his client could be freed by the panel of three judges on the High Court bench.
"When someone appeals to the High Court, [the sentence] can be same, it can be up, it can be down and it can be free too."
Mr Siregar also represented convicted drug trafficker Schapelle Corby and succeeded in having the Australian's sentenced reduced.
"Schapelle Corby's sentence in the district court was 20 years and I defended her and then she got 15 years.
"And many cases I handle in the High Court, receive less than the verdict of the District Court."
Connor has always maintained her innocence, saying she was trying to separate Taylor and the police officer Wayan Sudarsa, as they fought on the beach over her lost handbag.
However, the panel of three judges on the Denpasar District Court found she was trying to help Taylor during the assault and that she had acted out of guilt when she later destroyed evidence.
The High Court will rule in Connor's case within six to eight weeks.
The Australian has previously expressed concern that she will not see her two young boys grow up.
They live in Byron Bay with her ex-husband.
Under Indonesia's court system a High Court ruling can then be challenged in the Supreme Court, after which a judicial review is also open to the accused.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, bali
First posted