Corby re-trial closed down in new blow

DENPASAR - Schapelle Corby was dealt a shattering blow last night when three Balinese judges shut down her reopened trial and refused to grant her Indonesian lawyers more time to find new witnesses.

To make things worse, another judge ruled out the possibility of evidence being given by videolink by Australian witnesses linked to drug trafficking.

He insists witnesses must testify in Bali in person, even though that might mean they could be prosecuted under Indonesian law.

Corby broke down in tears in the packed Denpasar District Court and was taken back to her cell at Bali's Kerobokan Prison.

Corby's defence team must now lodge a new appeal and ask for a time extension from the Bali High Court, which last month ordered her trial to be reopened so that promised new defence witnesses could testify.

With no witnesses lined up, it is uncertain whether it will do so again. "The hearing will be closed, but it is not impossible it can be reopened," chief defence lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea said.

Two Qantas staff told the court they had checked in Corby's baggage at Brisbane airport and had noticed nothing unusual. The 28-year-old Gold Coast woman was sentenced to 20 years in jail on May 27 for trying to smuggle 4.1kg of marijuana into Bali last year.

- AAP