Shapelle Corby

[Mystic]

Just wondering how other Aussies feel about this issue in Bali. I am passionately certain that she is innocent and I wish the f**king government would get off their fat lazy asses and f**king do something already. The conditions in those cells are horrific and she does not deserve to be there. It isn't fair. Come on Mr Downer - what if it was your daughter? And it EASILY could have been.

[Roastie]

I certainly don't think it's our place to work off media hype and lean towards innocence or guilt - but either way, it was just 4kg of dope. WHO GIVES A RATS? IT'S JUST A BIT OF DOPE! As far as I'm concerned, if she IS guilty, she's done her punishment 10 times over already. The death penalty is always totally unjustifiable in any situation, I'm not sure I'd even wish it on Bush himself. But life in prison? Her life would be destroyed. For what? Stupidly, ridiculously harsh penalties. Life in prison? Give me a bucket.

[Cal]

it was just 4kg of dope. WHO GIVES A RATS? IT'S JUST A BIT OF DOPE!
That's exactly how I feel about it, Roastie. :(

[Seaside]

What's this about? Someone caught with drugs and getting life in prison? :confused:

[Roxy]

The first I really heard about this case was when in was in Australia back in March. The whole thing is absolutely scandalous, and from what I know, I believe that she is an innocent victim of a drug trafficking ring in Australia.

I've been following the story in the on-line version of the Courier Mail and my heart goes out to her and her family. I think the whole thing is very unjust and that she is not receiving a fair trial at all. The indonesian court system is going to try and make an "example" of an innocent woman. Assholes.

[Mystic]

Yeah, basically she was caught with 4kg of marajuana in her boogie board case by customs officers as she was coming from Australia to Bali. I think at first she was looking at death by firing squad - now they are looking at life in Prison. But I know I would rather be dead then be subjected to life in an Indonesian Prison.

[veganblue]

Has anyone heard if there is an extradition treaty with Indonesia? I don't think that there is but I think that there certainly should be! An agreement that means that a citizen of another country can, under defined situations, be tried in their originating/home country for the crime apparently committed. It would have to be limited but in the event of a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment in one country where in Australia it might be a hefty fine or temporary imprisonment.

In Indonesia, they will have the attitude that we are too lenient on drug crimes. The potential for harm to others is hardly life threatening. Compare this to the Bali bombing where so many died and the ring leader (which there hardly seems to be any doubt that he is guilty) gets a comparative slap on the wrists...?!

Even if Corby *is* guilty, and I doubt that she is, it is hard to see how justice is being served. :(

[Mystic]

Even if Corby *is* guilty, and I doubt that she is, it is hard to see how justice is being served.
It's not.

[Seaside]

My dad has been to Indonesia, and I guess you aren't even allowed to chew gum in public.

This reminds me of a movie I saw a long time ago called "Bangkok Hilton" starring Nicole Kidman before she got really famous. Her character gets drugs planted on her, and gets caught and sent to prison in Thailand. It was a harrowing movie. It must be a total nightmare in real life, guilty or innocent. :(

[adam antichrist]

I had a friend who did a few years in Bali for posession. He had done some gaol in Australia as well, so he knew that indonesian prison wasn't as bad because there isn't anyone that tried to kill him. He said there were no standover men, and when someone had a resentment they stabbed the other guy in the arse rather than in the throat. That was in the early 90's so things probably aren't greatly different.
Womens prisons in Australia are even worse than mens. IF she doesn't get executed she is probably better off doing gaol over there than here.

[Cal]

I can't believe it, but Schapelle got 20 years. :(

[Roxy]

Yes I just found out too :( My heart goes out to the poor woman and her family. This must be so awful - I can't imagine!

By the way, I think John Howard is a spineless twit after reading in the Courier Mail on-line what he said today. It's almost as if he's washed his hands of the matter, like he has no responsibility to set an innocent citizen of his own country free from false imprisonment in a shit-hole!

[Cal]

By the way, I think John Howard is a spineless twit after reading in the Courier Mail on-line what he said today. It's almost as if he's washed his hands of the matter, like he has no responsibility to set an innocent citizen of his own country free from false imprisonment in a shit-hole!
Yes, Roxy, agree completely. I read his comments on the ABC news website. Pathetic man. :(

[eve]

Sadly, which ever way we look at it, she was found to have that marijuana in her boogie bag, and couldn't prove that anyone else put it there. That's the way the law works. But twenty years?!

I heard one chap on the radio today who had spent many years in a prison there, and he reckons she should learn the language - she's already been in klink for several months but I guess she was banking on coming back home. And you're right, Roxy,
John Howard really is a spineless twit. It's almost as if he's washed his hands of the matter ... Isn't it the same with the two Aussie prisoners in Guantanamo Bay prison? One is back here now, but we don't here a dicky bird from him now, and the other guy is still out there.

[Miel Miette]

We really don't know that she is innocent. We have only heard the Australian media's version of what is going on, and that is the version that they think will sell the most papers, never the most truthful one.

Leaving whether she did it or not aside for the moment, 20 years seems a lot. Does anyone know what the average sentance for a foreign person smuggling that quantity of pot into the country is?

[Mystic]

No, we don't know for sure that she is innocent - but come on - 20 years for dope? Maybe the authorities need to spend more energy catching real criminals. I personally don't believe she did it.

My heart goes out to Schapelle and those close to her. I have been at work all day and didn't hear John Howard's response, but I am sure it was pathetic, jusdging by all your comments.

[Kurmudgeon]

I thought channel 9 and Mikey had figured out she is innocent (only good thing about that station is that it shows Frasier).

And that Bali bomber guy got 2.5 years, didn't he?

[Mystic]

dipshits :mad: - he murdered heaps of people and she gets 20 years for something that they can't prove that she did.

[Miel Miette]

Oh I agree totally. 20 years for pot and 2.5 years for murder is all out of proportion. It's insane, really.

[adam antichrist]

I'm surprised they didn't give her the death penalty, I suppose that is the compromise when the political environment is taken into consideration.

[Cal]

Leaving whether she did it or not aside for the moment, 20 years seems a lot. Does anyone know what the average sentance for a foreign person smuggling that quantity of pot into the country is?
One "expert" said that 20 years was, in fact, a light sentence for that particular offence. :(

[adam antichrist]

Australian government is trying to cash in on public sentiment by stating they are "sorry" for her. ARe they "sorry" for David Hicks? :mad:

[Roxy]

Innocent until proven guilty. I don't believe there was proof beyond reasonable doubt that she was guilty.

[eve]

Would you call someone "innocent" if found with dope in their luggage, with no explanation except that somebody else must have put it there?

As for Bashir who got 2 yrs (?) in connection with the Bali bombing - the difference was that he had good lawyers who tore the prosecutor's "evidence" to shreds on most counts. They could only get him for some slight technicality.

Corby chose two idiots, selecting them from the yellow pages on the ground that they spoke English. Amazing that the judges allowed the "evidence" from a prisoner in Australia, when it was nothing more than hearsay. Hearsay is certainly not allowed here. Then they got Corby to write to Dr Yudiono for a pardon - even though a pardon can't be granted unless a person has been found guilty. What sort of lawyers did she have for heaven's sake? Let's hope that this time they accept the offer by our Foreign Minister of two good QCs for the appeal.

[Geoff]

.

Corby chose two idiots, selecting them from the yellow pages on the ground that they spoke English. Amazing that the judges allowed the "evidence" from a prisoner in Australia, when it was nothing more than hearsay. Hearsay is certainly not allowed here. Then they got Corby to write to Dr Yudiono for a pardon - even though a pardon can't be granted unless a person has been found guilty. What sort of lawyers did she have for heaven's sake? Let's hope that this time they accept the offer by our Foreign Minister of two good QCs for the appeal.

It's my understanding that the Corby family found the lawyers, who were the first English speaking ones to answer the phone.(Surely you'd want English speaking lawyers to defend an English speaking defendant?). It was a Sunday so not many firms would have been working and I imagine that the family would have been in a panic so accepted whatever they could find.
From what I've seen, her legal team comprises more than two people and you don't get through law school if you're an 'idiot'.
An Australian lawyer (QC?) said that she would have been found guilty on the same evidence if the case had been heard here.
The chief judge in this case has heard some 500 drugs cases and has a 100% conviction rate.
Maybe Eve should offer to run the appeal! :)