Criminology and Psychology

Thai woman was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday for trying to smuggle 500 grams of cocaine into the country early this year, media reports said. The West Java Banten's Tanggerang district court found Thitirat Charoensuk, 24, guilty for violating the country's tough anti-narcotic laws. In addition to handing down a 14-year jail sentence, the court also ordered the defendant to pay a fine of 60 million rupiah (5,330 dollars), chief judge Haryono said in the court ruling, the state-run Antara news agency reported. In previous court hearings, government prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Thitirat. Thitirat was arrested in late February with British national Michael Anthony Guevera, Antara said, adding that the cocaine was divided into three packages, wrapped in condoms and carried in her vagina. Indonesia defends the death penalty as a necessary deterrent in a country with a growing drug problem. In July, the country executed two Nigerians found guilty of heroin ...

latest plea by the three Bali bombers to the constitutional court would not affect plans for their execution. Lawyers for the three men - Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas, also known as Ali Gufron, lodged a legal challenge earlier this month, saying that Indonesia's method of executing convicts by firing squad was inhumane. The three men would prefer an Islamic method of execution by beheading. All three have been on death row since 2003, when a Bali court sentenced them to death for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Schapelle Corby, guarded by two prison officers, spent more than three hours in the Gardenia Salon, adjacent to the wing of Sanglah Hospital where she was admitted late last month.Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby has been allowed out of a Bali hospital,where she is being treated for depression, to shop, have her hair done and get a pedicure.“She was here from 11am until 2.10pm, guarded by two fully-armed officers,” salon worker Ida Ayu Purnama said.“She was here for a temporary hair straightener for one hour, and a pedicure for one hour.“After she was finished she saw lots of journalists outside, so she was waiting for a few moments inside.” Wearing jeans, a blue cap and matching tank top, the 30-year-old tried to hide her face when she eventually left the salon.An employee of a nearby market said Corby also did some shopping there on Tuesday afternoon, again with an escort of two police officers.“She spent quite a long time here, almost two hours. She bought some snacks and ...

One of the Bali Nine has spoken publicly for the first time on the electronic media about his situation and his hopes of being able to leave a Bali jail, despite that fact that he faces the death penalty. Scott Rush, who was arrested on drug trafficking charges in Indonesia, has spoken to SBS Television from his prison cell. He says he never realised the implications that his actions could have, or that it was even possible to be executed for smuggling heroin. Donna Field reports. DONNA FIELD: These are dark days for Scott Rush. The 22-year-old from Brisbane is far from home in a foreign prison, with little to think of but impending death at the hands of an Indonesian executioner. He was originally sentenced to life in prison for his role in an attempt to smuggle eight kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia in 2005. He appealed, but rather than being shortened, his sentence was increased to death. Scott Rush spoke to SBS Television's "Cutting Edge" program about ...