Like lots of others, I’m not too happy about the Corby case. But I think most of the complaints from Australia have been misdirected. The problem is not with the trial which, while not as procedurally tight as the Australian equivalent, seemed basically fair[1] to me. The real problem is with Corby’s twenty year sentence. The likely imposition of the death penalty on the Bali heroin smugglers is even worse.
The reason that attention hasn’t been focused on this issue is that, as a society, we’re fairly hypocritical about the war on drugs. At one level, we recognise that it’s essentially pointless and unwinnable, like a lot of wars. So we’ve gradually backed away from lengthy prison sentences for bit players, and even abandoned the idea that the capture of a few “Mr Big Enoughs” would make any real difference. But it’s still convenient for us that our neighbours should have draconian laws, the burden of which falls mainly on their own citizens. It’s only when a sympathetic figure like Corby gets 20 years for an offence that might have drawn a good behavior bond in Australia, or when some stupid young people end up facing a firing squad that the contradictions are exposed.
fn1. That is, as fair as other drugs trials. The nature of the war on drugs is that normal legal principles have to be suspended if the law is going to be made to work at all. The routine use of procedures bordering on entrapment, and the effective reversal of the onus of proof, once possession is established, are examples of this, in Australia just as much as in Indonesia.
John Quiggin 
i think that she is getting an unfair trial they should look at the trial again wheter or not she did it i dont feel like she should get a 20 year sentence at least let her come to australia where is her home i truly believe that she isnt gulity and i think that she should be left free because no true australian deserves to be punished for a crime they didnt comit. Australia along with thousnds of other countries helped whene the tsuanmis hit bali we gave them the most money over 4million i truly believe that bali should at least send her to austrlia dont be cowards bali court
and as for the bali 9 they are gulity but they were tyricked dont kill tyhem along with shaepple send them to australia we look at so many ppl dying and murders why kill more think about the familys and think about this if you were offered money to do something not knowing what it is i think that you would say yes i know i would
Call the Indonesian President! Some anonymous poster on JQ’s website thinks, feels and believes that Schapelle’s trial was unfair and that she is innocent. The same anonymous poster knows that the Bali 9 are guilty. Sounds like a sound basis for a decision. Come on ……, put forward a rational and coherent argument.
By the way, if the Indonesian judicial system is so corrupt, why didn’t someone pay the bribe necessary to free Corby? The judges apparently earn less than $7000pa each – ten years salary ought to have returned a not guilty verdict. And, it would be cheaper than hiring a couple of QCs.
Why are people so naive and stupid? A lot of people who are suggesting she is guilty keep saying things like, ” why is their so much media attention when there are many more australian convicts in jails around the world” I even heard this on the radio and they were trying to come up with reasons. To me the answer is SOO obvious I find it hard to comprehend that people can’t see why. The answer is simple. 92% of Australians KNOW she’s innocent, that is why we are all outraged! Not because she is young and attractive. To all the people who think she’s guilty, unburry your head from under the sand. ALL the evidence points to her inocence (eg. drugs being worth a lot less, the melbourne guy who knows the baggage handler who put it in her bag, the fact the drugs weren’t consealed in her bag, the lst is endless) The only thing that says she may be guilty is the fact that it was in her boogie board. This leads to me thinking that the people who do think she’s guilty, don’t really think she is, they just don’t want to conspire to the thought that she is young and attractive and want to be difficult.
Alexandra,
The drug she was carrying, Aussie hydroponic grown dope, is actually more expensive in Bali than here – about double.
What one criminal said to another in jail in Australia may be interesting, but I do not think it would have been admissible here. It would also have been difficult to conceal 4 kg of dope in a boogie board bag.
I do think she is innocent – but then I did not sit through her trial, hear all the evidence, weigh it up etc. Unless we have it is difficult to put yourself in the same position as the judges on this.
Alexandra, you say that 92 per cent of people “know” she is innocent. I find this curious: 92 per cent of the Australian population are not in a position to know this – they are simply in a position to ‘believe’ that she is innocent. You can be justified in your belief if you have watched the media coverage of the case, but I have serious doubts about you knowing she is innocent.
Let’s look at your argument. You say, “ALL the evidence points to her innocence (eg. drugs being worth a lot less, the melbourne guy who knows the baggage handler who put it in her bag, the fact the drugs weren’t consealed in her bag, the list is endless) The only thing that says she may be guilty is the fact that it was in her boogie board.”
I disagree with you.
1. The price for which the drugs would sell in Bali depends on who the buyer is. There was an argument in the Australian newspaper last week which identified a high price being paid by foreigners in Bali for drugs sold by other foreigners. The reason for the higher price is that (according to the article) many local drug dealers are undercover police. Unless you buy from a foreigner you run a very high risk of attempting to buy marijuana from a police officer. People pay a premium for security when buying drugs.
2. The Melbourne guy who knows the baggage handler who put it in her bag? Is this a reference to the convicted criminal (ie low credibility) who claimed to have overhead a conversation between other prisoners about Corby having been an unwitting victim? There are really problems with accepting evidence of this type and it would not be accepted in Australia. For me to hear another person talking about a third person committing a crime does not prove anything other than that I heard it. Hypothetically, if you are willing to accept evidence of this type, you would be willing to accept a statement from me about whose drugs they are. Evidence of this type is not good enough.
3. The fact the drugs weren’t concealed does not demonstrate anything either way. They were closed into a bag she owned.
Now, you concede the point that the drugs were in her boogie board bag. That is, the drugs were in property of which she was the legal owner and over which she had legal control. In many places around the world, including Australia, this is sufficient to create a prima facie case.
One more thing: she says she’s innocent. I’m not willing to accept that as anything other than her plea of innocence. It is a claim which is easy to make and which most people would make if caught with drugs in their baggage and facing the death penalty. Per plea proves nothing either way, but it is reasonable to view it with some degree of scepticism.
Corby and her defence team had ample opportunity to present a case rebutting the prima facie case that was established against Corby. The same process would have applied in Australia. Unfortunately for Corby, they failed. This suggests either incompetence or her guilt. It’s important not to misunderstand the situation – Corby was not proving her innocence, she was rebutting a prima facie case established against her.
There are clearly problems with the Indonesian justice system, but Corby got the fairest possible trial she could have (in Bali). The prosecution chose not to seek the death penalty when they could have.
I feel sorry for her. It is a tragedy that anyone should face so long in such a miserable jail. I am glad she didn’t face the death penalty – few people deserve to die for the crimes they commit.
Do I think she’s guilty? I have no idea. I do however think that she got as fair a trial as was possible, and the finding of the Balinese court was justified on the basis of the law it had to apply and the facts that were put before it. I also think that there is a lot of b/s floating around about her innocence from people asserting to know she didn’t do it.
More than that, I think that there is something fundamentally wrong with any person that feels sympathy for Corby and does not also feel that sympathy for David Hicks.
‘Thrown a concrete life preserver’, hee hee, have to remember that one.
If I found a suspicious package bulging in my luggage (especially with a flat, solid boogie board not subject to settling and changing shape), I would probably try to surreptitiously chuck it on the carousel so someone else could find it and figure out what to do about it. I certainly wouldn’t try to brazen it out and help out some drug smuggler by helpfully carting it through Customs for them – that would be far more incriminating than rejecting it on collection. What is meant to happen when an ‘innocent mule’ comes out of the airport? Some total stranger approaches them and says, ‘I think you have something that belongs to me in your luggage – give it back to me now.’?
Good point about the supposed domestic destination and the baggage handlers – using road transport is safer, more reliable, and more weight can be transported point to point without checks.
Not sure about being caught by X-rays and sniffer dogs in various countries, either, it’s possible to spot dope in X-rays even when sealed in solid objects. Hence the Bali 9 using body packs, I suppose…
I always padlock all the zips on my travelling pack, though that was always to prevent things being lifted rather than being inserted, as duty free is known to be pilfered at certain airports, etc etc. (Although I don’t know who wants my toothbrush and laundry items.) In retrospect, I’m glad I had the inadvertent 2-way precaution though. Basic brass padlocks are $2 each and will protect against tampering. There’s a American lock style available where (only?) airport marshals have a master key, although that system only applies in the US.
One hears a lot of rumours concerning background information on the Australian dope market in Bali, who’s related to who, the shape and size of the package, that it was actually seed and not leaf, etc, etc, and one draws a conclusion based on the ‘balance of reasonable prejudice and suspicion’, I suppose. Everything from family connections to Schapelle’s self-reported and reported behaviour at Customs to the question of having a large, clear plastic bag of dope weighing as much as the board again stuffed inside. There is always room for ‘reasonable doubt’, but it’s like the Azariah Chamberlain case all over again in terms of the ‘toss of the coin’ factor in the information that’s been presented that is not hearsay and rumour or ‘spun’.
However, it’s a very low thing to do ethically to even ask someone who’s fundamentally not involved to act as a mule to that sort of country, knowing what the risks on detection are, for any sort of money.
On the ‘presumption of guilt’ item under Roman-based law, I believe that’s a short-hand a lot of people use to try to contrast the two systems, although it’s inaccurate and an over-simplification for effect. The remarks about a higher standard of evidence at arraignment etc I believe are correct. I remember one expert saying that ‘if I were innocent of a crime, I wouldn’t mind which system I was tried under, but if I was guilty, I would prefer the English system’.
What’s the H. of L.? The days of blockading a country over one citizen, especially remotely connected (forget about criminally connected), appear to be numbered – wasn’t that the sort of approach that lead to WWI and other sundry affairs? I personally would like to think that I had that level of protection available though : )
The ‘BT fallacy’ is a media fallacy, remember – how do media and advertising conglomerates sell papers and magazines and products? By…? (Hint: look at the front cover of some magazines and papers.)
I think the ‘latte left’ accusations are off-centre – I’m almost a card-carrying member of the latte left, and I believe the Bali 9 should’ve been apprehended in Australia if at all possible rather than in Bali, and tried and sentenced here, and they could count it as a close call just to get a stiff jail sentence and hopefully not try stunts like that again, and get on with more constructive, rehabilitated lives. I’m not sure what sort of signal the Australian Govt is trying to send to the Australian public, and to the Indonesian Govt, in not trying to look after Australian nationals but still see reasonable justice done. Apparently these 17-19 year olds are incorrigible criminals who are so evil that killing them is the only reasonable solution to protect the rest of society from their evil predilections – shades of the convict colony. Kim Beazley did another ‘me too’ on the ‘operational matter’ of which country they should have been arrested in, I believe to his continuing detriment. Rest assured that John Howard, on the other hand, will always be utterly ruthless and politically expedient in his treatment of these people, because that is the sort of person he is.
The penalties of other countries in the region are well known. They are announced on the plane before landing, and there are signs everywhere. I think the sociological (or psephological) point is that, guilty or not, both Corby and the Bali 9 are lower middle class types who look like typical harmless Aussies, ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ (?, perhaps not), but certainly remind a lot of (voting) mums and dads of their own kids, and everyone is financially struggling these days due to housing booms and imminent 2-house majority repressive IR laws about to come down from on high. And desperate times call for desperate measures for a lot of people, when they feel the social settlement in their own country has let them down, and they will otherwise never be able to get ahead – with Costello’s tax cuts for the rich and overwhelmingly favourable tax treatment of landlords, it’s pretty easy to see which way the wind is blowing…
That was alot more than 2 cents worth.
anyway stop talking please, I have already posted the last word on the monday message board.
I have a new blog focusing on my rise the Prime Ministership and featuring biting commentary and analysis along the way.
The last word on the Corby case has come from Graham at ambitgambit. http://ambitgambit.nationalforum.com.au/archives/000631.html The Indonesian legal system promotes crimes against humanity, that’s right, all who serve the Indonesian legal system are guilty of human rights abuses. As the Graham says article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that it is a basic human right that if charged with a penal offence to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Here is the thing.
�(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.�
Corby was presumed guilty until her legal team could prove her innocence, an uphill battle which has initially at least been lost. She certainly didn’t have every guarantee if any.
So anyone for crimes against humanity? Does anyone want to change their minds?
My 2 Cents,
I reckon that one of the Bali 9 should come out and tell a sob story along the lines of…
“I tried so f-ing hard for years to earn enough money to get a degree, but I couldn’t…. just couldn’t (sobs)…. All I wanted to do was earn enough money to go to uni….(meaningful pause)… It seemed so easy… just want a job (sob) a house (sob) and kids (sob)… just wanna be relaxed and comfortable… relaxed and comfortable….”
The social settlement has not let people down quite that badly yet. But it would make for interesting politics if one of the Bali 9 whinged about social policy. Pity latte lefties don’t smuggle drugs.
OK, then, Guardian of the (Unknown) Faith, they’re inherently evil, and they deserve to die. Damned supply-side types after their super-profits…
These are 17-19 year old kids in some instances. And they placed a risk value on their own lives of just $10-15 000.
Who knows their individual motivations, and whether they’re local little bad-asses or what. They certainly don’t look it. Maybe they did want to earn enough money to go to uni, they’re young enough. Look at the exploitation of young American women in the porn and sex industry just trying to pay their way through college.
Getting a university degree these days may just mean a delayed entry to working in McDonalds and other junk jobs rather than immediate entry – a lot of graduates are disappointed in outcomes and don’t work in their preferred field, and many jobs they get don’t require a degree at all. This is to say nothing about the ‘battlers’, the working poor, the flight of capital and manufacturing jobs overseas, and so on.
The social settlement is letting a lot of people down, and if you don’t realise it, you’re not reading, and you’re not thinking. But that’s a whole other thread. (The cost of housing is double in real terms what it was for our parents, employment is more precarious than ever before, etc etc)
By the way, on the other posting, I can’t think of many latte leftists who have been supporters of the Indonesian Govt about anything for a very long time, starting with the West-assisted rise of the Sukarno regime followed by Sueharto, the invasion of East Timor and West Papua/Irian with tacit acceptance and support from the US and Australian govts, etc. There has been political appeasement and acceptance only from successive Australian governments, on the back of anti-Communist fears and under the table agreements about cheap oil and gas resources in the you-know-where.
P.S.
I wish I could grow a beard like JQs…
How come when I get a parking ticket the parking inspector doesnt presume I’m innocent, not the cop when I was caught drink driving, they hauled me into the police station. What about when I argued with a policeman after my friend was put in the car for D&D and then just threw me in the back too for a night in jail, or when I get a speeding fine? Or when I lodge my tax late? Where is my presumption of innocence!
I think trial by media is a lot fairer, so I demand that Channel 9 line up all the baggage handlers on a Current Affair, and let us vote for the prick thats guilty!
my final comment is how appalling the hypocrisy of all this is.
Perhaps tonight some people could walk down the streets of their own capital cities and see the filth and squallor that their own people are living in through no fault of their own. I guess its not as easy to be outraged about injustices when we are to blame, is it?
Having served on a couple of juries I find it remarkable how many people believe that on the basis of watching a couple of 5 minute stories on A Current Affair they’re better placed to make a decision than the jury (or in this case the Judge.)
Final comment ?
what for ?
Why can it just go on and on and on….
Sarcasim aside, I actually do honestly agree with Jeremy that ACA should line up the baggage handlers. After all, what is a justice system other than a set of institutions by which certain norms, which the majority of citizens agree with, are imposed on agents. Surely ACA has a far better grip of the norms of justice that most Australians agree with (around 97%). However, being fair, it would not be possible to find someone guilty within a half-hour slot. what they should really do is get all of holed up in a gold coast house for six months, with cc cameras running. Then we could vote the most non-guilty b-handler out each week.
Wittiness aside, obviously if in fact ACA came up with a guilty lookin b-handler it would save us a lot of eminent trouble with the Indos. go on Ray, Australia needs you!
final comments are for weaklings
Guardian’s comment
Unfortunately for Corby, they failed. This suggests either incompetence or her guilt. It’s important not to misunderstand the situation – Corby was not proving her innocence, she was rebutting a prima facie case established against her.
The little the Qc’s have said might suggest that they agree with Guardian. That they are not for window dressing and if her guilty ruling was the result of mistakes on the part of her defence then that it was her appeals must address.
The baggage handlers defence just doesn’t seem to be able to do it.
The information being shared with us would indicate that this activity is around luggage containg drugs being brought into Australia being moved to domestic luggage to avoid authorities examining it. It is quite definitely stated that they are not moving drugs domestically with this criminal activity, and that they are not inserting drugs into other passengers luggage.
The Qc’s project confidence that a strong rebuttal of the case against Schapelle can be raised. They don’t seem to be showing much interest in the “the baggage handlers did it”
In the meantime, the unions say it is Howard’s fault that the crime in the airports is happening. Custom’s points a finger at the unions and the airlines who wouldn’t want their schedules disrupted by unions strong arming them for removing people of concern. Scully was laying it at the door of the feds, I thought that state police did police checks. The airports and the airlines know nothing. The feds claim they are doing the best they can.
The public gets to be kept at risk while all jockey for the high ground and spread the blame. And it is not the public that is totally committed to the Gotcha mentality so prevalent particularly in our media, which mitigates so powerfully against improvement in such institutions and practices. Schapelle, innocent or guilty has become an object for all to batter each other with.
Her best hope is the experienced legal team that is on offer, and joined probably by Bashir’s legal team. What she doesn’t need is Bakir and the sob sisters.
2 cents that was an interesting point about the US marshall locks. talkback radio here yesterday had a guy talking about how the US authorities view locked luggage, and if you put your own padlock on they break it. They also apparently solve the glad wrap approach with stanley knives and don’t apologise for damage to luggage.
final comment for tonight was what I meant….this is a new day, with a new soapbox to stand on..!
in keeping with I think they should have Survivor Bali with the Bali Nine, Corby, and the ACA Baggage Handler. Every week they could vote eachother off, and a celebrity judge could choose between the final 2! and in a final twist, the punishment could be having to read all the blogs on schapelle corby!
What does the Australian government think they’re doing, offering to fund the trial of the Bali 9? Those Australians, although claiming that they were forced, were found with heroin strapped to them. John Howard doesnt appear to be doing anything for Schappelle Corby’s case, who in Indonesia, is guilty until proven innocent. Who’s to say she’s guilty? We have no proof whatsoever.
Federal government pays for legal assistance for Australians in overseas custody where the holding country doesn’t provide legal aid. E. g. Hicks, US government paid for Major Moro, the Australian government provided additional funds to Kenny for US visits.
According to QC Mark Trowell the Australian government completely funded Schapelle’s Indonesian legal team. It would appear Mr Bakir has funded very little of Schapelle’s defence.
So the oz government has spent tens of thousands on this case. Wonder exactly what Bakir has paid for. And Tampoe ??….who’s paying him??? Wasn’t he the one who first said it was a baggage handler because he had a tip off ???. As was reported recently he said he never received any calls from other more experienced lawyers who were offering their help, unyet he receives phone tip offs ????…All very fishy
We all know what has happened to Schapelle post arrest, but nothing has really been mentioned about her pre- arrest history. I have heard passing comment that she has made numerous trips to Bali over a relatively short period. Can anyone verify this? It has also been quoted on a radio talkback in NZ that “If she was big fat and ugly, would she be getting the same media attention?”. All I can say, that if it was my daughter or sons and was guilty or not? I would fight to the bitter end for her rights and well- being. Big fat ugly or not!
JQ can you please block further posts to this forum? It’s all becoming circular and repetitive.
Save Us – if you aren’t interested – then don’t read the thread!
Is anyone actually reading the thread? I doubt it! If people were, then there would be a lot less repetitive postings.
Yes, I have already posted the last word on the matter several times.
Well if yours is the last word, mine is the penultimate word.
Hang on, if I post this then something goes horribly wrong……
But is Corby also a porn star?
http://indcoup.blogspot.com/2005/05/20-years.html
To answer your question save us! I am not reading this thread, just continually posting pretending that I am irritated that we have trawled the same ground over and over. I have already posted the last word whether people admit it or not. And thats the firth factor.
Judging by the blank screen I got when I followed the link, I cannot say conclusively that Schapelle Corby is a porn star, only that not enough evidence exists to prove beyond reasonable doubt that she is a porn star.
And when you say ‘But is Corby also a porn star?’ You really mean that ‘I already know that she is a porn star although I pretend that I haven’t made up my mind yet and I will eventually find that conclusively she is a porn start no matter what anybody says.’
Well I have read the thread and I might just have the last word. All of the comments have been very interesting.
I would just like to say I am one of the 8% who believe (don’t know for sure because I wasn’t there at the time) that Schapelle is guilty and also was more convinced of my belief after watching the TV interview with her. I believe she has only got the amount of support and publicity because she is good looking and is putting on a good act of being the innocent victim. She doesn’t look like she is doing hard time in jail and nor do I think she will do hard time in the years to come. I do not think her family are doing her any favours – they come across as ignorant white trash.
I actually wonder if her brother who was with her and initially carrying the bag (and who looks/sounds a few sandwiches short of a picnic) was in on it with her and the only reason I would think she is innocent is if that was the case and she was either taking the wrap for both of them or protecting him (you might notice – he hasn’t had a very high profile throughout the case and doesn’t seem to be in Bali supporting her – although I could be wrong). They might have thought she had a better chance of getting off than him.
Anyway – my real comment is – everyone who has been to Bali or any of the other countries who have the death penalty for drugs can not claim to go in ignorance. It is generally on travel documents and is quite clearly on big huge signs around the airports. If you choose to commit a crime in another country then you deserve to be punished by that country. Comment has already been made that we punish foreigners under our Australian laws so why should it be any different if the situation was reversed.
Anyway – I believe Schapelle is guilty and should do her time – she will come back to Australia when she is released and sell her story and make a fortune so no need to worry too much about her. I also believe the Bali nine are guilty. They are also completely stupid and I believe should be shot to put us all out of our misery. I certainly don’t want any of them brought back to Australia so I can support them with my hard earned tax payers dollars whilst they do their time in the comfort of the Australian prison system.
FRESH! NEW!…angle on same old stuff :
Did you hear about the campaign someone is setting up to fax letters of support to the indonesian embassy in canberra ? apparantly they are still going ahead with depsite the white powerder fiasco. you can email them right now and they will fax your email to the embassy!! I’d imagin ol Yudi himself would be taking careful note of each one of those articulated letters of support. They banned me after i sent this one:
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can ya fax this for me ?
. .. . …
. . . . . . . . …
. . .
. . .. . . . .. ..
. . . . . . . . .. .
. . . . . .
………… . ..
. .. .
. . …………
. … . ……. .
I know its not white, but its the best thing i could do with this keyboard :((
(wish it was anthrax)
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check it out:
http://weezil0.blogspot.com/2005/04/support-schapelle-corby-free-fax.html
ok everyone can stop reading this post now.
JQ, Congratulations, you seem to have captured the “Big Brother” demographic.
Benno, since you’re not reading this thread, you won’t know that I have now sereptitiously slipped in the LAST WORD.
It appears that while 92% of Australians may beleive in Chapelle’s innocence they don’t necessarily believe in it very strongly:
Six turn out for Corby rally
Only a handful of people have turned up for a protest in Brisbane in support of Schapelle Corby, jailed last week for 20 years for drug smuggling in Bali.
Twenty-one reporters, cameramen and photographers easily outnumbered the six pro-Corby protesters.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1384176.htm
[…] reasonable doubt Thank you John Quiggin… I have never been more appreciative ofintelligent debatein my life. A […]
‘I know very little about the indonesian legal system. Is it normal there for the defendant to have to prove that they are innocent and that someone else is guilty? Is there a requirement for proof beyond reasonable doubt?’
doss, Indonesia’s system of law is actually more widely practised around the world than our own. They use the Dutch civil law system as opposed to our common law system. And yes, this is always the case in a civil law system.
‘Maybe “more likelyâ€? rather than “very likelyâ€?, not least of all because there is a prima face profit motive coming the other way.’
anon, perhaps you haven’t heard, but Australian marijuana is worth a LOT more in Bali than it is here – up to $700 an ounce! There have been numerous reports on this in the papers, yet the mainstream TV media has been to scared to report on it.
As far as her sentencing goes, I think 20 years is lenient considering the punishment in Indonesia is death. When you enter another country (a sovereign nation) you should also respect their laws. It is clear that Bali has the death penalty for drug importation, so if you are guilty of such a crime you have, in effect, wilfully handed over your life to the Indonesian authorities. At 27 years old, you are old enough to take responsibility for her actions. I don’t agree with the death penalty either – but Schapelle knew the risks before even booking her flight to Indonesia – there’s no point debating all of that now.
If she is indeed guilty, then she got off lightly. However, if she isn’t guilty (and NONE of us know the real answer to this) then it is the fault of her defence team in not getting her acquitted – not the judges, not the Indonesian legal system and NOT the Australian government.
There was no evidence to support her case, which is quite sad really.
we dont know if shes innocent of guilty.
Her father has had drug problems b4, and she was married to a japenese man for 3 years ( and was alledgedy a “prostitute” )
I do not know whether Corby is guilty or not. You might be right that she might covering somebody close to him and it is very surprising tha her mother, father, and her sister Mercedez were at her side all the time, but not her brother who came to bali with him.
I was watching the trial inside the court room and it is open for public and media. Was not it fair enough ?
In the Indonesian law system, a Verdict is always based on the evidence and witness at the court trial. As some of you have commented, she might not be guilty and maybe her brother was. Why no media ever tried to check this ? Does Schapelle like surving ? If she does, it was not surprising that she brough her boogie bag. The question is who really own the bag ? Schapelle or her brother ?
She might be suffering in prison but with all the attention from Australian, with all the money sent through her sister Mercedez, she could live well in prison and she could buy everything she wants. Her sister or her brother in law comes to prison everyday to bring her food, a luxury that not everybody can get.
If she is innocent, then she has to tell the truth so that she does not have to pay for something she does not do. But words would not be enough in the Indonesian law system, there should be evidence. And it is teh duty of her defence team to prove that she is not guilty, and the defence team should be a strong person, and not a weak person who cried at the court. What would the judges, the prosecutors, and the people think if they see the lawyer crying ? A DESPERATE ACTION !! And that is what Corby’s lawyer LILY LUBIS did during the trial, CRYING ! Maybe she knew that Corby was guilty or maybe she is just too weak to defenced Corrby.
It is a court rial and not a crying competition and Corby should have a strong lawyer to help her, and her brother, why did not he support Corby ? Very strange !!
I do not know whether she is guilty or not but if she is guilty then the Verdict is too low, but if she is covering somebody she should speak up. It is not point of Australian to be angry with the Verdict, if Corby trial was in Tangerang, she will definately get A DEATH PENALTY.
At the other hand, with all the attention from the australian public, a lof support for fund, then she will just fine.
save us, I care not for the last word, the last essay is much more appealing.
Who set up Corby? See:
http://indcoup.blogspot.com/
Some coverage from the Guardian Newspaper in the UK, which might interest some of the more ardent followers of this thread.
See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1501172,00.html
It is hard being nice these days. First we lost Dougy now we lose Corby! 😦 Indonesia before you shoot, THINK- how would our children live. I dream of justice, no i wish it. Actually i want it. Lets change the world. Erase the destruction, diaster and terrorism. I want it all to stop. Where is the world going to. We are losing this world we had once loved so much again.
Inspired by BoneThugs N Harmony-Change the World
Schapelle Corby is Innocent!!! Isn’t it blatant? Or are they just stupid?? There is no justice in this world…Lets change the world…before we lose this world we love, and it looks like the sinnin won’t stop… Indonesia…come on, let schapelle free and lets change this world before too much hateing starts. Lord, that is when you will let your blessings begin.
Schapelle Corby dun breakdown yet it is not over…
“somebody at a barbeque said the best thing to do was to send in some renegade sas boys in to get her out. its probably not the best thing to do politically but it seemed the spirit of the times and i thought it would make a good song. here is that story.�
http://www.mp3.com.au/track.asp?id=107678
I got the last the word, I got the last word
benno, you are mistaken…………
Everyone is an expert after the fact. Like, yeah I would have chucked my bag back because it was too heavy, yeah I would have opened the zippers different, yeah I wont accept my bag because the lock is in a new spot and it is now bulkier, yeah Fenech and Tyson shouldnt have trusted Don King, yeah Kimmorley shouldnt have thrown that speculator in the first state of origin…I Wouldnt have done that!!! I am an expert! Fucken wake up Australia, she was just living a normal day and got screwed over, more than likely by a fellow Australian. I sadly wait knowing full well that it will happen again to your mother, brother or someone you genuinely care about.
hmmm, except that the boogie board approximately doubled in weight, was bulging heavily, and the package was exactly the same shape and size as a boogie board. Sounds like premeditation to me… You can’t tell me that baggage handlers prepared a boogie board-sized package to transit via airline with great difficulty domestically within Australia, just waiting for an unknown Bali tourist to get on a plane with a boogie board of the same dimensions in an unlocked bag… Then she unzips only the top pocket and acts nervously about the whole thing…