(This article was first published on 6 Sep 2009 & enhanced on 18 Aug 2013.)
Update, 8 Dec 2013 : Keep yourself more informed from these Twitter pages: Women for Schapelle, BobCarr Cover-up & Kim Bax.
Update, 17 Aug 2013 : An ABC radio news bulletin reports: "Convicted Australian drug smuggler Schapelle Corby has not received a sentence cut as part of Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations." This was contrary to earlier reports that she had been given hope of an early release. Unless her sentence is reduced, she is not eligible for release until 24 March 2017. See also: Schapelle to be sent to die in remote Java prison of 5 April 2010, A selective capacity for human compassion? of 24 Feb 2010, Your support for clemency bid needed to save Schapelle's life 12 of Feb 2010, Schapelle Corby's story told on Truth News Radio of 23 Sep 2009.
On 27 May 2005, Schapelle Corby was found guilty not by a jury, but by a judge, of attempting to smuggle 4.2kg of cannabis into Indonesia and sentenced to 20 years' jail. However, even a cursory look at the case against Schapelle Corby, for example on Wikipedia, will reveal that the evidence against her is almost non-existent, whilst evidence, pointing to the guilt of the Balinese Police, a coverup and the scapegoating of Corby, is overwhelming. The newsmedia's failure to make this widely understood is yet another of countless examples of its failure in its duty to the Australian public.
See also: The political sacrifice of Schapelle Corby of 8 Feb 14 (includes video from Expendable Project story), http://www.freeschapelle.com.au (as of 9 Feb 2014, web-site no longer exists), "Your support for clemency bid needed to save Schapelle's life" of 12 Feb 10, http://www.schapelle.net/, "Kevin Rudd gives Schapelle Corby a raw deal" by Jill Singer in the Herald Sun of 27 Aug 2009, "Schapelle Corby paranoid, clutching doll in Kerobokan jail" by Cindy Wockner and Kormang Suriadi in the Daily Telegraph of 25 May 09, "Premier backs call to bring Schapelle Corby back to Australia" in the Herald Sun of 25 Aug 09, "Schapelle Corby 'clinically insane'" by Adam Gartrell in News Ltd online of 24 Aug 09.
For its part, our Government's failure to insist that at least due process and international and Indonesian law be applied in the case of Schapelle Corby is yet another of many examples, stretching back to at least the murder of the Balibo Five in East Timor in 1975, of its failure to act protect citizens of this country.
In fact, the charge of having attempted smuggle cannabis out of Australia and into Indonesia rather than the reverse had always struck me as improbable. However, with so with so many other controversies, which require research and thought to arrive at the truth, going on, I made the choice to put the issue to the back of my mind.
I was made properly aware of the overwhelming evidence of Schapelle Corby's innocence when I attended the Brisbane Forum on Saturday 5 September at public meeting in Beenleigh put on by the Brisbane Forum. The case for Schapelle Corby's innocence of the charges against her was put by Roy.
innocence to Brisbane Forum meeting of 5 Sep 09.
Good day Ladies & Gentlemen.
My name is Roy, I live in South East Queensland, and I am the Captain of an offshore oil rig tender working in the Timor Sea. I have been in the offshore oil industry for 28 years.
There would not be a person in this room who has not heard of Schapelle Corby, a woman made famous for all the wrong reasons, and I have little doubt that some here think she is "Guilty".
I happen to know, however, that Schapelle is "Innocent". It is not my belief or my opinion, it is a FACT, plain and simple, and over the course of this presentation I hope to prove it to you.
Roy's close association with Corby Family
So, what are my credentials? What authority do I have to make such a claim, when everything we see, hear and read about in newspapers tells us that Schapelle is "Guilty" and that her whole family have been dealing in drugs for decades?
I have known the Corby family for 20 years and I am a close family friend. I am also part of a small and trusted group who are regarded as Schapelle's strongest advocates.
I have studied her case for several years now, and I happen to believe there is not too much about it that I don't know.
In March this year I visited Schapelle in Kerobokan Prison, along with her mother Rosleigh, two of her Aunts and a friend of Schapelle's named Katrina.
Katrina was one of Schapelle's travelling companions on that fateful trip to Bali in October 2004.
Thankfully, Schapelle was in a lot better shape then, than she is now.
Having not seen Schapelle since her childhood years, when I visited her in March it was, in many ways, like meeting her for the first time.
I found her to be one of the most charming and lovely persons you could ever hope to meet, and I knew then and there what I had believed all along -- There is NO way that she committed this crime.
Roy's abhorence of illicit drugs caused by personal tragedy
Before I continue, you should know that my Wife and I lost our son to illicit drugs 11 years ago. As such, I have no tolerance for illicit drugs or those dealing in them#main-fn1">1.
As far as I am concerned, you commit the crime, you do the time, providing the sentence is fair and reasonable punishment.
The evidence of Schapelle Corby's innocence
However, by the same token, if you are innocent, you should be set free. "The Innocent Should Not Be Punished".
#d51200;">Schapelle is not a drug dealer, a drug smuggler, or a drug trafficker. She never has been.
#d51200;">Everything you thought you knew about her, and her case, needs to be seriously re-evaluated.
Prior to her fateful trip to Bali in October 2004, Schapelle had no criminal record and was, to all intents and purposes, a law abiding citizen. Despite being convicted of drug smuggling in Bali, she has no proven association with illicit drugs, or anyone dealing in them, in Australia.
And yet, Ladies and Gentlemen, there was marijuana in her boogie-board bag. This fact is indisputable.
So, apart from the intimate knowledge that I have through my friendship with the Corby family, and Schapelle herself, what else do I have to support the notion that she is "Not Guilty"?
Firstly, there was no motive. The value of the drugs in Australia would have been around $35,000 and in Bali around $5,000. So, who in their right mind would take a chance on receiving a death sentence, or a life sentence in a third world prison, just to lose $30,000?
No one would, which is why marijuana has never been taken to Bali from Australia before, or since. Indeed, if the drugs in her bag really did come from Australia, the event is unique in the histories of both Australia and Indonesia. Quite simply, there is no Australian marijuana on Bali's streets. There never has been, and probably never will be.
Australian marijuana, grown hydroponically, which is apparently much sought after by westerners in Bali and carries the name "Aussie Gold", is a myth.
Schapelle, who had worked hard in her mother's Fish and Chip shop just to save the $1300 for her trip, and who was given a further $1100 by her mother and father to have a good time, would not have had the money to buy the drugs anyway.
Secondly, in the post 9/11 World that we live in, and fly in, with its security cameras, x-ray machines, dogs sniffing for drugs and explosives, as well as random checks of baggage by Customs, the chances of Schapelle getting 4.2kgs of marijuana through two domestic and one international airport terminals in Australia was, essentially, zero.
Let's not forget that the inner of the two plastic bags in which it was packed had been slashed, further aiding in the release of the pungent odour.
As such, questions like: did her father insert the drugs, or did her brothers insert the drugs, cease to be relevant. It wouldn't have mattered if Santa Claus had inserted the drugs, they would not have got through.
Do I suspect her father of being involved in any way? No, I do not!
He loved his daughter and vice-versa. She was his baby girl, the youngest of his children, and they shared a very special bond. She was the one living with him, and caring for him, as he slowly died of cancer. He would never have done anything like this to her.
When he did finally die, in January 2008, she was the one and only family member who could not attend his funeral.
Do I suspect her brothers of being involved? Once again, No! The most admirable thing about the Corby family is their strength in the face of adversity and the way they rally together. They are very close-knit, and not one of them would ever do something like this to another.
Do I suspect baggage handlers of inserting the drugs, for the purpose of getting them interstate, then failing to remove them in Sydney? No, I do not, but having said this, I do concede that it could have happened.
4 months after Schapelle's "Guilty" verdict, a British aviation expert, Sir John Wheeler, did investigate airport security and find that marijuana is moved through Australian airports. This is done with the aid of airport and airline staff who the criminals bribe in order to circumvent airport security.
Do I suspect Schapelle of doing this? No, I do not, and it comes back to motive. Why pay a bribe to ensure the passage of the drugs between Brisbane and Sydney, so they can continue onward to Bali to be sold for a fraction of their original value? Paying a bribe would only compound the loss.
Schapelle's bag was unlocked, so the drugs could have been inserted in Sydney, but there is no evidence to support this, nor a reason for doing so. The only thing we do know is that a major cocaine shipment did come into Sydney International Airport from South America while Schapelle's boogie-board bag was on the ground in the international baggage handling area.
Of course, discounting Sydney, there is only one other place where the drugs could have been inserted and that is, on the ground in Bali, before the boogie-board bag passed through Customs.
This is not only possible but highly probable. For many within the Schapelle Corby support movement, myself included, it is the most credible explanation for the presence of the drugs in her bag.
Regrettably, the truth of the matter is this -- we don't really know who inserted the drugs, and we may never know. Because they were burnt without ever being tested for their country and place of origin, both of which can be established these days in advanced laboratories, there is no way to tell where they came from.
In not knowing this, it is very difficult to establish with certainty the guilty party, or their motive. The only thing we are certain of is this: that Schapelle Corby did not insert them, and neither did anyone else in her family.
Nevertheless, the actions of the Balinese Police, the Prosecution, and the Judges, deserve serious scrutiny. Had they truly suspected that Schapelle was guilty of the crimes for which she was charged, they would have conducted themselves entirely differently. It certainly appears that if the Police were not the guilty party, they colluded with those who were.
Article 8 of the Indonesian Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 18 of the Indonesian Human Rights Law, Article 14 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Indonesia is a signatory, and Article 11 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all state the following in so many words:
"Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to the law, in a public trial, at which he or she has had all the guarantees necessary for their defence."
The Indonesian Code of Criminal Procedure also requires that the Prosecution provide some form of secondary evidence with which to back up the primary evidence, in order to secure a conviction, the primary evidence in this case being the marijuana itself.
As such, it is reasonable to assume that the Balinese Police would have conducted a full investigation into this crime, both to assist the Prosecution in building their case against Schapelle Corby and to catch all those involved.
#d51200;">Any one, or all, of the following points could have been investigated, and if the Police had been doing their job properly one would have expected them to do so.
Fingerprinting the inner and outer plastic bags. #d51200;">Not only was this not done, both plastic bags were handled without gloves, the outer bag by the Customs Officers and Police, the inner bag by the Judge himself, in court, along with the Customs Officers and Prosecution who he beckoned over to participate. The Judge then denied a request by the Defence to have the inner bag fingerprinted because, as he put it, "Too many people have handled the bag".
Weighing her checked in baggage with the drugs on the scales, and comparing this weight with the checked-in weight. If the two weights were the same then the drugs were in her bag at check-in. #d51200;">Not done, not deemed necessary by the Police.
Forensically testing the marijuana to determine its country of origin. This would have been necessary to prove that the drugs actually came from Australia and, had it done so, would have provided the Prosecution with a prima facie case. Furthermore, had Schapelle's DNA been matched against the DNA of any hair or skin fragments found amongst the drugs, she would have had no choice but to change her plea to "Guilty." #d51200;">Not only did the Police not do this, they refused to allow the Australian Federal Police to do it.
They also burned the remaining evidence in March 2006, well before Schapelle's avenues of appeal had been exhausted, to ensure that the drugs could never be tested in the future. They did this in contravention of International Law, which requires at least a sample of the evidence to be preserved, and they did it like criminals with something to hide.
Had forensic testing been conducted, and had it proven that the drugs were Indonesian, Schapelle would have been exonerated straight away and the finger pointed at the Police.
Schapelle begged for these investigations to be carried out and even signed a consent form allowing the Australian Federal Police to forensically test the marijuana, in order to ensure a proper result.
Since when do guilty people beg for further investigations of their crime, knowing full well that the results will only further incriminate them?
Bearing in mind that the results of these investigations could just as easily have proven that Schapelle was innocent, we begin to see a motive for their refusal to do so. However, we have to ask the following question -- how could the Police possibly have known in advance which way the results would go, unless they had inserted the drugs themselves, or were acquainted with those who had?
Last but not least, a Police investigation into how Schapelle had acquired, and intended to dispose of, 4.2kg of marijuana. Since Schapelle was also being charged with trafficking, as well as importation, it would have been necessary to establish that she did, in fact, have connections with a drug distribution network in Bali. #d51200;">Once again, not done.
Despite this being alleged as the first time that marijuana has ever been exported from Australia to Bali, #d51200;">no investigation of any kind was carried out in either country, and during the entire case no mention was made of a single person believed to be involved with Schapelle in disposing of the drugs. The Police did not interview Mercedes, her husband Wayan, or anyone else in Bali for that matter, nor did they visit Mercedes' home.
It appears that neither the Balinese Police nor the Australian Federal Police had any interest in finding out who else may have been involved, in order to put a stop to what was, if true, a new and disturbing development in transnational drug trafficking.
The one spin-off from the Balinese Police's refusal to conduct an investigation was the fact that Schapelle's defence case suffered considerably. Indeed, with no evidence forthcoming from their non-investigation, her lawyers were forced to look to Australia for something, anything, with which to mount a defence. This suited the Police very nicely since it took the focus of attention away from them.
Because Schapelle was innocent, and had effectively handed over control of her bags to baggage handlers from the moment of check-in to the time she retrieved them in Bali, the probability that baggage handlers had inserted the drugs into her bag, for whatever reason, was a reasonable assumption. As such, her lawyers examined every aspect of baggage handling practices in an attempt to find a clue which would explain the presence of the drugs in her bag and prove "reasonable doubt," which is grounds for acquittal in any fair minded court in the world.
The "baggage handler defence" was, however, given real substance with the inclusion of the Victorian prisoner John Ford's testimony to the case.
Quite why John Ford decided to give the testimony that he did, I do not know, but his story about the jailed baggage handlers discussing the bungled drug delivery, and of the man lamenting his marijuana loss, came with no supporting hard evidence.
Whether it was the truth, or whether he made it up, we may never know. Schapelle, of course, saw it as her salvation. It made sense of the senseless and vindicated her protestations of innocence, but in the end it did not help her.
So, having ignored all these legitimate avenues of investigation with which to provide some form of secondary evidence, the Police chose instead to resort to underhanded tactics.
They tried twice to trick Schapelle into signing a confession, both times written in Indonesian which she could neither speak nor read at the time, the first one just hours after her arrest.
They also tried to plant drugs on her once in the Polda visitor's room. Fortunately, these measures all failed.
When Schapelle's blood and urine tests returned a negative result for drug use, the Prosecution was in trouble. They had no hard secondary evidence and this is where they too resorted to underhanded tactics.
In a country where bribery and corruption is rife, and the dealings of the Police are above the law, they created their own secondary evidence, based on the testimony of the two Customs Officers and two Police Officers who were present in the airport at the time.
The two Police Officers could not speak English and the Custom's Officer, Gusti Winata, who was their principal witness, chose to use an interpreter when questioned in court. He was also given immunity from hard-line questioning by the Defence.
The testimony they gave was seriously at odds with the testimony given by Schapelle and yet, the CCTV footage from the camera above the Customs counter, which could and would have corroborated their version of events, had it been the truth, was never allowed into the courtroom, #d51200;">despite it being requested by Schapelle and her lawyer.
This footage would have given legitimacy to the Prosecution's #d51200;">only secondary evidence, and as such, the fact that they did not request it themselves is significant. It leads one to conclude, logically, that the testimony of these men was a pack of lies, and this footage would have rendered it inadmissible as evidence.
Not only should this camera footage have been allowed into the courtroom, the Judge himself should have insisted on it. The testimony of these men was both crucial and damning, and Schapelle had every right to request this footage for the purpose of refuting it. When the Judge failed to comply with the request he sided with the Prosecution, and his impartiality was seriously compromised.
For him and the other two Judges to find Schapelle ‘Guilty' of importing a Class One Narcotic, without any proof that the drugs even came from Australia, and without attempting to confirm that the testimony presented as secondary evidence was actually true and correct, especially when this evidence was being disputed, was an outrageous travesty of justice.
They chose, or were ordered by a higher authority, to believe the lies of these men, yet they dismissed outright not only Schapelle's sworn statements, but also her testimony, and the testimony of every one of her witnesses.
On the charge of trafficking, they found Schapelle ‘Guilty,' even though the Prosecution did not present a single piece of evidence or testimony to support the charge. In so doing, they were then at liberty, under Indonesian Law, to impose a sentence in excess of 10 years, this being the maximum allowable for possession and importation alone.
Is it any wonder that Judge Linton Sirait had never acquitted a defendant in 500 previous drug related cases, when we look at how he handled Schapelle's case? #d51200;">Not one Judge had ever acquitted a defendant.
#d51200;">In light of this, how can we possibly accept their verdict as a credible outcome, or condone the imposition of a 20 year sentence, one of the highest ever given for drug trafficking, more than murderers, rapists and terrorists often receive.
#d51200;">The fact is, we cannot, yet most Australians have. 20 years, in the squalor, hatred and violence of a third world prison, where the average life expectancy is only 10 years!
As to why the Balinese Police would plant drugs on an innocent traveller, if they were in fact the guilty party, we do not know. However, the most popular theory amongst Schapelle's supporters is this -- that the Balinese Police wanted a high profile capital drugs conviction to improve their international standing, and make them eligible for U.N. ‘War On Drugs' funding.
It would not have been Schapelle herself that they targeted, merely her unlocked boogie-board bag, which was the right shape and size for their purpose. Being one of the last items of baggage loaded on the plane in Sydney, it was one of the first items unloaded in Bali.
As there were no previously recorded cases of marijuana importation into Bali from Australia, orchestrating such a case would have given the appearance of a new and disturbing development in transnational drug trafficking, adding weight to their need for the U.N. funding.
Quite why they did not feign a better attempt at an investigation into the case appears hard to fathom, until we understand this very important fact -- Every avenue of investigation would have proven that Schapelle was, and is, Innocent, and they knew this!
#d51200;">Did the Australian Federal Police collude with the Indonesians in this affair? Yes they did.
The CCTV footage from Brisbane Airport, which would have shown the flatness of Schapelle Corby's boogie-board bag as she checked it in, was never presented and its fate remains a mystery. It is my belief, and the belief of many within the Schapelle Corby support movement, that the AFP seized and destroyed this footage.
The final story given by Qantas, no doubt upon instructions from a higher authority, after several earlier and conflicting stories had failed to deter those seeking this evidence for Schapelle's defence -- "The cameras were under repair." Several people from Security also came forward claiming that the cameras were not switched on.
A former airport Customs Officer who I worked with recently, told me that our major airports could have as many as three security camera systems operating at any one time, and the suggestion that the cameras were all, either under repair or switched off, is complete nonsense.
The cameras at Sydney International Airport cargo handling area were all found to be facing the wall the day Schapelle's boogie-board bag passed through there, no doubt to ensure that the cocaine importation activity that was occurring there that day would not be recorded on videotape.
The AFP Commissioner, Mick Keelty also made a number of unnecessary and extremely damaging statements to the media, during the course of Schapelle's sham trial, which effectively undermined her "baggage handler defence."
#d51200;">Did the Australian Federal Government collude with the Indonesians? Yes, they did.
Despite contributing $100,000 to her legal expenses, they essentially left Schapelle to her fate, claiming that they could not interfere in the judicial process of another country.
They continued to maintain this stance even when the Balinese Police, Prosecution and Judges were blatantly breaking Indonesian Law in their endeavour to convict her.
They remained silent when her basic Human Rights were being brutally violated, rights supposedly guaranteed by the United Nations through the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Australia was being accused of being a drug exporting nation for the first time, yet they failed to demand a sample of the marijuana for testing to determine if this was true.
They had every right to do this under the Mutual Assistance Treaty that exists between Australia and Indonesia.
They left the job of obtaining a sample to the AFP, when in fact, the Attorney General should have requested it from the Indonesian Supreme Court.
When a sample was denied, they accepted this without question, despite the importance of forensic testing to Schapelle's defence.
When support for Schapelle in Australia was running at 90%, and her case was seriously damaging our relations with Indonesia, they adopted a pragmatic approach.
Even though they knew she was innocent, they decided that our relationship with Indonesia was more important than Schapelle's human rights, so they commissioned the media to conduct the most shameful smear campaign ever waged against an Australian family, a campaign which continues to this day.
They wanted Australians believing that Schapelle Corby was guilty and that members of her family have been involved in the drug trade for decades, and they used the media to "manage" everyone's opinion.
This was done through a process of subterfuge. Little by little, bit by bit, people's perceptions were bent, creating distance between her sham trial in 2005 and the present day.
Using a simple six step methodology they slowly shifted focus from the truth to a false reality of their own creation, and along the way they made a lot of money through numerous fabricated stories. See YouTube broadcast -- Burying The Truth: Burying Schapelle Corby (also embedded immediately below).
YouTube broadcast, Burying The Truth: Burying Schapelle Corby
I say fabricated, because they are. The Corby family are not involved in the drug trade and they do not have criminal records. What's more, I have copies of Police Certificates which prove this.
Yes, Schapelle's two half brothers have had brushes with the law, James only the once, but these matters were totally unrelated to Schapelle herself and did not involve the drug trade.
The government themselves did assist along the way with a number of damaging statements made by various ministers, but far and away their loudest statement came through the confiscation of the royalties from Schapelle's book, "My Story."
By declaring the royalties from the book as being the proceeds of crime, they were stating that a crime had been committed.
And yet, the book was written for the express purpose of telling the Australian people that a crime had not been committed, at least, not by Schapelle Corby.
By confiscating the royalties, the Australian government was sending the people the following message, albeit a lie -- "We accept the verdict handed down by the Judge. We believe she is guilty of a crime, so it's okay for you to believe it as well. Forget her, and move on with your lives."
It was a win-win situation for both the media and the government. The only loser was Schapelle Corby, and being the daughter of a working class family, she was considered expendable.
Now, 4 years later, Snow White has become the Wicked Witch in the minds of most Australians, and yet, she is as innocent now as she was then. Bad things really do happen to good people.
Gandhi once said, "Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth. An error does not become the truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it."
Schapelle's life of comfort behind bars a myth
Ladies and Gentlemen, even when Schapelle's mental state was better, she still suffered immeasurably.
Being a female prison inmate in a Muslim ruled country immediately places you at a disadvantage.
Unlike the men, women are not allowed to play sports, or work out in a gym, they do not have access to television or electricity and there is no furniture of any kind in their cells.
The lucky ones, those with support on the outside, sleep on thin mattresses, the rest sleep on sarongs spread out over the concrete floor.
They do not even have the luxury of darkness to sleep by as the bright fluorescent lights in the cell are never turned off.
The men can come and go from their cells pretty much whenever they want to, whereas the women are locked up for 15 hours a day, sitting around most of the time, barely moving.
The toilet in the corner of the cell occasionally blocks up spewing human waste out onto the floor which can sometimes remain there for days until the problem is fixed and the floor cleaned.
Additionally, the stench from outside, the heat and humidity, the mosquitoes, the red ants that bite at night leaving welts and scars, and the rats, remind Schapelle every day of exactly where she is.
The prison is rife with diseases like AIDS and Hepatitis and Schapelle suffers regularly from severe eye and ear infections. Her hair has gone prematurely grey and has to be dyed constantly to maintain its black appearance.
Schapelle cannot read books anymore due to her inability to concentrate and the phobias she has about practically everything. Even reading short letters from friends is practically beyond her. Until recently she was making beaded necklaces, bracelets and anklets, one of the very few things that the prison authorities allowed her to do, but even this is now almost beyond her.
The simple acts of washing, dressing, eating and using the toilet can, at times, be too much for her to manage on her own, depending on her level of lucidity.
Even if her recent requests to start up beauty therapy classes for her fellow prisoners, and to start an outside garden, were now granted, it is unlikely she would be capable of doing them.
Crushing boredom has been Schapelle's constant companion since her incarceration, and while I am not a psychiatrist, I suspect this may have contributed to her mental illness. A bored mind will wander, and who knows what strange things it may conjure up.
In her four and a half years of imprisonment, Schapelle has witnessed all manner of horrors, horrors that no young woman should ever have to see -- prisoners being bashed to a pulp, kicked in the face until it's just blood and bone, girls attacking each other with broken glass, woman miscarrying in her cell, and several suicides.
She has endured this without the assistance of trauma counselling, which we would all expect to receive for witnessing far less.
She said in her book, written in 2006, "I never know what I'll see next but I do know that in my future there'll be many more grim, disgusting sights I can't yet even imagine."
#d51200;">In 2009, there is probably not much left that Schapelle has not seen.
Schapelle's life now hanging by a thread
#d51200;">Her life now hangs by a thread.
I can assure you that the report by Dr Jonathan Phillips on Schapelle's mental condition, presented in the "New Idea" magazine just two weeks ago, is both genuine and correct.
She needs to come home, right now, or she will die in the very near future, possibly before Christmas.
It is time for her innocence to finally count for something. It is also time for Australia to show that we are a compassionate nation.
We did so well in relation to the Victorian bushfire victims, yet we have done so poorly in relation to this innocent woman.#main-fn2">2
Using people power, we must shame the Rudd Government into negotiating Schapelle's immediate release from Kerobokan Prison, not to serve out the rest of her sentence in an Australian prison, but to come home a Free Woman and receive the psychiatric treatment that she so desperately needs.
The support movement currently has a letter writing campaign in progress. The link to this is: www.freeschapelle.com.au/spreadword.htm
We also have a Care2 petition which has been running for nearly two years. We are chasing 50,000 signatures, but to date, have only acquired 8,000 signatures globally, about half from Australia.
The link to this can be found at: www.freeschapelle.com.au/20years.htm
Should you wish to join the support forum, the link to this is:
www.freeschapelle.com.au.
#d51200;">No matter how you decide to help Schapelle, please, do not direct your anger towards the Indonesians, as this will not help her.
To close my presentation, I would like to play a video clip entitled -- "Seaweed Monsters". Schapelle, once the girl next door, a fun loving woman who got into trouble because she wanted to body surf Bali's remote beaches, now struggles with the monsters in her mind, monsters that threaten to obliterate the happy memories of her past.
YouTube Link to this Video is
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uobMcrFcUP4. (It is also embedded below.)
YouTube broadcast, "Seaweed Monsters"
Thank You.
#d51200;">The Innocent Should Not Be Punished.
See also: http://www.freeschapelle.com.au/ (site no longer in existence - JS, 11 Feb 14), "Your support for clemency bid needed to save Schapelle's life" of 12 Feb 10, "Kevin Rudd gives Schapelle Corby a raw deal" by Jill Singer in the Herald Sun of 27 Aug 2009 (Note: is sympathetic, but fails to clearly spell out the compelling evicence of Schapelle's innocence), "Schapelle Corby paranoid, clutching doll in Kerobokan jail" by Cindy Wockner and Kormang Suriadi in the Daily Telegraph of 25 May 09, "Premier backs call to bring Schapelle Corby back to Australia" in the Herald Sun of 25 Aug 09, "Schapelle Corby 'clinically insane'" by Adam Gartrell in News Ltd online of 24 Aug 09.
Footnotes
#main-fn1" id="main-fn1">1. #main-fn1-txt">↑ Whilst I don't personally use illicit drugs and have rarely derived pleasure on past occasions when I have used them, unlike Roy, I personally believe that laws prohibiting drugs should be repealed, at least in Australia. The harm caused by these laws far exceeds any good that any deterrent effect is likely to have. Indeed, many deaths attributed to drug use would most likely not have occurred if it were not for prohibition laws. I support the harm minimisation approach of groups like the Canberra based Friends and Famlies for Drug Law Reform (see www.ffdlr.org.au) -JS.
#main-fn2" id="main-fn2">2. #main-fn2-txt">↑ This is disputed in other articles on this web site which discuss the Victorian bush fires of 2009. Of course, the inadequate prevention measures and assistance provided to bushfire victims is immeasurably better than the Federal Government's treatment of Schapelle Corby.
Comments
Michellle (not verified)
Sun, 2009-09-06 17:26
Permalink
Shocking cruelty to Schapelle
What they have done to Schapelle Corby is a strain on humanity. It is barbaric cruelty and mental torture and is STILL ongoing. When are people going to open their eyes and see through the lies? When she is dead?
The truth is also documented in the 106K PDF document "The Schapelle Corby case: 'The hidden truth'"
(http://www.schapelle.net/propositions/hiddentruth.pdf).
It's 41 pages and heavy, but it speaks for itself.
It is the shame of a nation. Rudd has to be forced to get her out of there, immediately, or she may be coming home in a box, a damning symbol of a corrupt media and cowardly government.
Anonymous (not verified)
Mon, 2009-09-07 10:42
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Schapelle is a scapegoat!
Schappelle is a scapegoat, a convenient deterrent for other would-be drug importers and exporters. She is one of the small fry, possibly set up to show that something is being done in Bali to stop drugs.
However, like Barlow and Chambers, the small runners were targetted while the big players are safe. The knats are drained but the camels get through! Even if she was guilty, the "crime" is non-violent and people take drugs voluntarily. A 20 year sentence is a violation of human rights. Before the elections, K Rudd made promises about getting her out, (just like stopping Japan's whaling) but now of course he just ignores her! Our government wouldn't like to "upset" Australian/Indonesian "friendship"!
James Sinnamon
Mon, 2009-09-07 13:30
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Schapelle is not even "small fry". She is innocent!
I happen to agree that, even if Schapelle Corby is guilty and even if I agreed with the laws prohibiting drugs, a 20 year drug sentence is excessive in the extreme. (See abovementioned web site ffdlr.org.au for views on drug harm minimisation that are close to my own.)
However the fact remains that she, and her whole family are totally innocent of any involvement in drug trafficking, so, unlike the Scott Rush and the rest of the Bali 9 (who face the death penalty, thanks to the almost equally shameful conduct of the Australian Federal Police in regard to them), she is not even 'small fry' in the game.
Of course, to be totally pedantic, no-one can know anything with absolute certainty in this world.
But I am even more certain that Schapelle Corby is innocent of the charge of trafficking cannabis to Bali as I am certain that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is innocent.
If you look at the article, you will see that:
1. The evidence against Schapelle Corby is almost non-existent. It consists of the physical presence of cannabis in her bag that she had only retrieved minutes before, and the word of two airport employees.
2. Evidence that could have confirmed her guilt if she was guilty or, alternatively, proved her innocence if she was innocent, was withheld or destroyed. This strongly suggests that the Police needed to conceal that evidence knowing that proof of Schapelle Corby's innocence would almost certainly have led to the conclusion that the Police themselves, or, else, someone they were protecting, were guilty.
3. At all points in the investigation and trial Schapelle Corby acted exactly as we would expect an innocent person to have acted.
Suzanne Gray (not verified)
Mon, 2009-09-07 14:44
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Schappelle
James Sinnamon
Mon, 2009-09-07 16:30
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... as I would once have said myself, but Schapelle is innocent!
Anonymous (not verified)
Thu, 2014-03-06 22:47
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Defence team acted as if they believed Schapelle was guilty
The AFP offered to conduct DNA tests and fingerprinting of the bag but Schapelle's legal team declined the offer when told the results would be made available to the prosecution as well. Sounds a bit sus to me.
admin
Sat, 2014-03-08 01:34
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So, why did the Indonesian police then burn the 'evidence'?
This is the first time in four and a half years that I have ever heard this allegation of suspicious behaviour on the part of Schapelle's defence team.
Are you claiming that, before the #DrugsBurnt">drugs were burnt by the Indonesian Police, that the Australian Federal Police offered to test the DNA and fingerprinting on the bag and the defence team then declined to have the bag tested by the AFP?
So, why, if as you are implying, that evidence of Schapelle's guilt was on the bag (as well as in the bag), would the Indonesian police have then burnt that bag of marijuana?
Miriam (not verified)
Mon, 2009-09-07 19:40
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Schapelle: I didn't realise
James Sinnamon
Tue, 2009-09-08 03:04
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Schapelle's best hope is to make known facts of her show trial
sharon (not verified)
Tue, 2009-09-22 21:14
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Bring Schapelle home
Anonymous (not verified)
Thu, 2014-03-06 23:01
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Why would this group be exporting drugs out of Australia?
Why would this group be exporting drugs out of Australia? Apparently Schapelle is innocent because no-one would export dope to Bali. You can't have it both ways.
James Sinnamon
Fri, 2014-03-07 23:32
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Aren't New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu also "out of Australia"?
Most likely the marijuana were planted in Schapelle's boogie board bag by a corrupt baggage handler to be transported within Australia. The marijuana could have instead been meant to be sent to destinations such as New Zealand, Fiji or Vanuatu.
Whatever #comment-3424">Sharon may have meant by "out of Australia", it is obviously ridiculous to suggest that any criminal in his/her right mind would smuggle marijuana from Australia to a place like Bali where it is only worth a fraction of its value in Australia. It should not take anyone more than the five minutes necessary to scan through the main points above, in quoted boxes and larger font, to know that if they are true (as can be proven) that Schapelle could not possibly be guilty of the crime of which she was found guilty by the corrupt Balinese judicial system. Her imprisonment is a grave miscarriage of justice.
Do you know any reasonable person who doubts Schapelle's innocence?
James Sinnamon
Sun, 2009-12-20 13:15
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Falsely convicted Schapelle's mental health continues to decline
The Courier-Mail story "Schapelle Corby lost 'in her own world' in Bali Jail" (story no longer available in the Courier-Mail - Ed, 18 Jan 2014) of 20 Dec 09 reports:
I submitted the following comment, which is awaiting moderation:
Update, 29 Dec 09: The comment was published soon after. It drew a number of responses, some supportive and some opposed.
One opposed was this:
I raised these questions on the Free Schapelle forum and, using the responses, posted this further reply which is now awaiting moderation:
Part of the reason for the brevity of the above post is the 1200 character limit of the Courier-Mail.
Whether or not the Courier-Mail publishes my lastest comment, the fact that it fails to prominently and repeatedly report the facts of Schapelle Corby's innocence is yet another of many glaring example of that newspaper's deficiency as a newspaper.
Tigerquoll
Mon, 2009-12-21 13:39
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So dissuade Australian tourism to these countries
If Australia was serious about protecting its citizens when travelling abroad it could start by doing two things:
1. Dissuade Australian tourism to countries that impose the death penalty, on the basis that it is contrary to Australia morals. This would send a strong message to those countries. They wouldn't like it, but if it saves one Australian life, it would be worth the diplomatic hostility.
2. Establish a Bilateral Custodian Exchange Convention with each of those countries that impose the death penalty on foreign nationals including Australians. Under this convention, Australian nationals sentenced to a custodial sentence in a signatory country would be automatically deported and repatriated to serve commensurate time back in an Australian prison. Australia would thus bare costs of deportation and incarceration of its own nationals. Reciprocally, foreign nationals if convicted and gven a custodial sentence in one of the signatory countries would likewise be automatically deported back to the country of origin to serve a commensurate custodial at the expenese of that country of origin. teh moral principle is that like pays for like and deals with its own.
The following identifoes the extent of the problem besseting Australia nationals on death row and the respective countries:
Australians on Death Row
[Source: http://www.nswccl.org.au/issues/death_penalty/death_row.php]
"The following Australians have been executed in recent years:
Van Tuong Nguyen - HANGED ON 2 DECEMBER 2005 in Singapore
Michael McAuliffe - HANGED ON 19 JUNE 1993 in Malaysia
Kevin Barlow - HANGED ON 7 JULY 1986 in Malaysia
Brian Chambers - HANGED ON 7 JULY 1986 in Malaysia
The following Australians are facing the death penalty overseas either because they have been convicted of, or charged with, offences that attract a death sentence:
Henry Chhin - CONVICTED & sentenced to death (suspended) in China
Andrew Chan (Bali 9) - CONVICTED & sentenced to death in Indonesia
Myuran Sukumaran (Bali 9) - CONVICTED & sentenced to death in Indonesia
Scott Rush (Bali 9) - CONVICTED & sentenced to death in Indonesia
The following Australians are no longer in jeopardy of execution:
Schapelle Corby - sentenced to 20 years in prison
Tallaal Adrey - sentenced to 4 years hard labour
Tran Thi Hong Loan - sentenced to 20 years in prison
Seven of the Bali Nine have been sentenced to life imprisonment:
Michael William Czugaj
Renae Lawrence
Martin Eric Stephens
Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen
Si Yi Chen
Matthew Norman
Nguyen Van Chinh - death sentence commuted to life in Vietnam
Mai Cong Thanh - death sentence commuted to life in Vietnam
Trinh Huu - death sentence commuted to life in Vietnam
Aggrey Kiyingi - acquitted
George Forbes - conviction quashed on appeal
Barry Hess - convicted of lesser charges in Indonesia
Tony Manh - death sentence commuted to life in Vietnam
Jasmine Luong - death sentence commuted to life in Vietnam."
Note they are all east Asian countries in our region.
As to how many foreign nationals are in custody in Australia prisons?
Good question, but statistics are hard to find.
At least none of them is on death row.
Tiger Quoll
Snowy River 3885
Australia
ashleyroth33 (not verified)
Thu, 2010-09-02 07:47
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X-ray scanners are horrible and invasive
James Sinnamon
Wed, 2013-08-14 21:37
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Faifax media continues cover-up of frame-up of Schapelle Corby
The Australian newsmedia's unconscionable treatment of Schapelle Corby continues. The latest example is: Schapelle Corby: Time to let go of our obsession by Michael Bachelard, Indonesia correspondent for the Fairfax Media:
It is not just about "one woman". It is about a grave hazard that many Australians unknowingly face when they go to Bali for their holidays. As Author, Kathyrn Bonella has shown, in Hotel Kerokoban (2009), Snowing in Bali (2012) and Schapelle Corby - My Story (2006), the ludicrous crime for which Schapelle has been wrongly convicted and for which she was sentenced to prison for 20 years -- the alleged smuggling of 4.2 kg of Marijuhana from Australia to a country where its market valued is less-- pales into insignificance in comparison to the corruption practised routinely by many Inodonesian government officials, police and local entepreneurs on Bali.
admin
Mon, 2013-12-09 06:57
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Latest news about Schapelle's struggle for justice on Twitter
The following pages, also linked to from the top of the main article, have up-to-date news on Schapelle's fight for justice:
Anonymous (not verified)
Mon, 2013-12-09 18:01
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Independence for Australia
Anonymous (not verified)
Mon, 2014-02-10 19:16
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Re: Schapelle Corby is innocent - part 4
I believe it was simple but stupid trick to suck good money from Australia! Schapelle is a good Christian and this also helped her to survive the hell.
Maryana (not verified)
Tue, 2014-02-11 12:56
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well done
admin
Wed, 2014-02-12 02:38
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Thank you, but credit mostly belongs to Roy.
Marayana,
Thank you so much for your kind appraisal of my article. However, most of the thanks, rightly belongs to Roy, whose talk at an earlier meeting, my article largely paraphrases.
Anyone who examines the evidence for no more than 5 minutes, can see that Schapelle Corby could not have possibly committed the crime of which she was unjustly convicted. Any journalist who persists in describing Schapelle as a "convicted drug smuggler," in the face of the clear and overwhelming evidence to the contrary, as many are doing right to this very minute, must be either stupid or dishonest.
Unfortunately, since I wrote the article, I have not been able to further contribute as much as I would have liked to have. This is because, on 18 May 2010, eight months after I wrote the article, as noted at the very start of this article, I was incapacitated as a result of being run over by a car on my way to work on my bicycle. Since then, I have somewhat recovered, but I still have:
Thankfully, my friends tell me my intellect is still good, so, in spite of my above deficiencies, I expect to still be able to contribute to the fight for justice, including for Schapelle Corby.
Greg (not verified)
Wed, 2014-02-12 13:01
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Moron or Liar?
How then do you rate this reply (in series with a slew of others waxing adamantly that Schapelle is guilty, amongst a slew of other more intrinsic character attacks).
'Discussion' at:
http://theconversation.com/did-she-do-it-the-ethics-of-the-schapelle-corby-telemovie-22485
Ken Alderton commented:
"What I did was to look at the source you use as the basis for your argument, “Roy”’s presentation and asked these questions: who is this person, what are his credentials for making this proposition, is there evidence for the propositions, is this evidence credible. “Roy” could be anybody. He cannot be identified. His credentials are that he is a family friend, no training in the law, no experience with Indonesia. What is his evidence? He claims there are four key procedural flaws: no fingerprints taken, no forensic identification, no dealer network identified, no corroboration of “secondary evidence”. The need to prove a distribution network is irrelevant because she was convicted of importation not trafficking. The prosecution asserted in public that the cannabis was Australian. The AFP told Corby’s lawyers they had no jurisdiction to test. Corby’s lawyer said in public that the defence had a sample they could have tested. Mick Keelty said in public that the defence told the AFP not to test the cannabis. Every other source I can find says that Corby requested the Denpasar CCTV footage to show her surprised reaction when the bag was opened not to disprove the testimony of the prosecution witnesses. Roy provides no detail. The evidence about the lack of fingerprinting is credible on the surface. The verdict confirmed it had not been done. I can find no independent account of when Corby asked for fingerprinting. I can also find no indication whether under Indonesian law it would have made a difference. What I have found is that two High Court judges would have said that it would have made no difference under Australian law. They held that possession was sufficient to prove importation. I have provided no sources to keep this to a manageable length. I’ll provide them if you want them. "
To add your say go to http://theconversation.com/did-she-do-it-the-ethics-of-the-schapelle-corby-telemovie-22485
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Student at Law (not verified)
Fri, 2017-05-26 20:07
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Greg citing Ken Alderton
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