Has Australia forgotten Schapelle Corby ?
Its 5 years to the day she was sentenced to 20 years in jail,,have Australias generally forgotten about her,heres an interesting post from www.freeschapelle.com.au
May 27, 2010 10:21 am
But everyday, nothing.
If people outside the region fail to take an interest in the case of Schapelle Corby, that may be regrettable, but at least it’s understandable. Australia is very far away, Indonesia is a largely unknown exotic country, and Tara Hack hasn’t been on Oprah. So if Canadians, Americans and sundry Europeans are more concerned with events in Haiti, Africa or elsewhere, who can blame them?
But Australia?
Aside from the supporters, the people down under seem to be asleep at the switch. And these comments are addressed to them – not the members of this forum.
This is your girl, your country, your airports, your neighbor. This whole disaster unfolded right in front of you, and you just sit there doing nothing?
Schapelle’s plight isn’t the only problem here. There are larger issues at stake, and the biggest problem is that ordinary Australians don’t seem to think there is one.
What’s going to happen to relations between Australia and Indonesia if things turn out badly? We worry about an angry mob showing up in front of the Indonesian embassy. Everybody else seems to think that most Australians will simply shrug their shoulders, open another beer, and throw a few more shrimp on the barbie. I don’t know which scenario scares me more – that Australians will care too much when it’s too late, or that they won’t care at all even when it is.
What’s going to happen if Osma Bin Laden’s finest decide to come after you? The Schapelle Corby case revealed all kinds of security flaws at your airports and the Wheeler report made them official. Is anyone paying attention?
People tell me that bombs are fundamentally different than drugs, and that your security people are much better at detecting one than the other. So far so good. Except that on March 22 of last year, a biker was beaten to death in the passengers lounge of Australia’s biggest airport. That can happen anywhere. But the police not showing up for 15 minutes? That doesn’t happen anywhere.
And then, there’s the confession. Many people believe that Schapelle’s application for clemency won’t work without a confession. For what it’s worth, my position has always been that a confession should only be considered if the pardon is guaranteed in writing in advance.
There’s only one problem. Confessions are for the guilty. But what about people who are innocent, but confess anyway because “that’s how things are done over there”?
How many innocent people have done the sensible thing? How many of them signed the confession, paid the bribes, did the three months or three years and went home in silence – thereby legitimizing shoddy police work and setting the stage for the next victim? When does the price of submission become too damned high? The 10th time an innocent person goes to jail? The 100th?
Maybe the problem is that Australia has become a society of isolated individuals. Maybe the average citizen no longer feels connected to anyone outside of their family and a small circle of acquaintances. If that’s really true, then the answer to the above questions is simple, stark, and terrifying: Australians just don’t give a damn about each other.
Or maybe the problem is that the victims are disposable. The dead guy at the airport was a bikie, so we don’t have to worry about what his case tells us about airport security. The Bali 9 are drug mules, so we don’t have to worry about what their case tells us about the AFP. And Schapelle Corby is……..oh, what’s that word, again? Slogan….Hogan…..BOGAN!! Yes that’s it! BOGAN! Bogan is the magic word that makes everything OK. Because she and her family are boganians or boganites or whatever the plural of the word is, we don’t have to think about her either.
I have seen the bigger picture, and it is not encouraging.
There are times when I am tempted to ask if the people of Australia have special training, or if they just have a natural talent for stupidity
Reasonable Doubt Means an Unreasonable Death:
A Yankee’s Viewpoint of Schapelle Corby
It was sometime in 2005 when my then-boyfriend, Will, called my attention to a story that was appearing on CNN. On the TV was a terrified looking young Australian woman who was being pushed through a crowd of photographers in Bali. The reporter went on to say how marijuana had been found in her unlocked boogie-board bag at the airport and she could be facing a firing squad if found guilty. As a world traveler myself, this woman was living my worst nightmare. Schapelle Corby had now become part of my life.
Over the next few weeks I found myself doing more and more research on Schapelle Corby. But the odd thing was that instead of getting answers to my questions, I was only coming up with more questions. I naively assumed that common sense would prevail and Schapelle would be released. 5 years later I’m still waiting, although my naiveté has gradually evolved into cynicism.
Myths
Fortunately, those of us outside of Australia were not bombarded by the soap-opera circus and misinformation that surrounded the Corby trial. The mythology that surrounds Schapelle and her family would have impressed the gods on Mt. Olympus. What does amaze me (which really shouldn’t) is the sheer number of people that have condemned Schapelle solely on this misinformation. Here are a few of the most common myths that I’d like to take the opportunity to clear up:
(1) Several members of the Corby family were involved in the drug trafficking industry: Nope. The Queensland police cleared the entire family of any connection to the drug trafficking world.
(2) Mercedes Corby sold drugs from her surf shop in Bali: Wrong again! Neither Mercedes, or her husband, Wayan, have ever owned a surf shop.
(3) Aussie Gold is brought to Bali to be sold: This story came out a few years ago, but falls apart like dried marijuana leaves when put under scrutiny. If this were true, there would be lots of Australians in jail in Indonesia for trafficking marijuana. To date, Schapelle Corby is the only Westerner ever arrested in Bali for allegedly trafficking marijuana.
As the saying goes, you are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.
Questions
Just about the only thing that is without dispute is that 4.2kg of marijuana was found in Schapelle’s bag. It was the amount of drugs that bumped the charge up to smuggling from only possession. This standard is not uncommon even in the U.S. Where our paths diverge is that in the U.S. the prosecution still has to prove that the accused had some “plan” to sell the drugs. This is apparently not part of the Indonesia judicial system. I’m perfectly willing to accept Schapelle’s guilt once the following questions have been answered:
1) Where did Schapelle get the money to allegedly buy the drugs in the first place? It took her a year just to save for the plane ticket. At the time, she was caring for her cancer-stricken father full-time.
2) If you were going to smuggle drugs, why would you put them on top of your belongings in an unlocked bag with your name on it?
3) If you were going to smuggle drugs, why would you put them in a plastic bag with a large slash in it? You don’t have to be a drug user to know that marijuana gives off a very strong and unique odor.
4) How exactly does an unlocked bag full of pot make it through three airport screenings?: Brisbane International, Sydney Domestic, and Sydney International.
5) Why was there no CCTV footage available in a post-9/11 world from any of those security points?
6) Why upon discovery of the drugs were none of Schapelle’s traveling companions questioned or their bags checked?
7) Why was the weight of the bags in Bali not checked against the weight of the bags when they were checked in?
8) How is it that a customs officer that speaks no English can testify that Schapelle claimed the drugs to be hers? (she said the bag was hers, not the drugs)
9) Why was her request to have the marijuana DNA tested for origin denied?
10) Why was her request to have the bags fingerprinted denied?
11) How is a judge to brags about never finding anyone innocent in over 500 drug-related cases objective? (there was no jury).
12) Where exactly was she going to sell more expensive Australian marijuana in a country where it grows naturally?
Until someone can answer even a few of these questions, I have no choice but to have reasonable doubt about her guilt.
Well if Schapelle didn’t do it, who did? Does it matter? To find someone innocent in an Australian courtroom, do you need to produce the guilty party? There are several theories out there including Australian baggage handlers using unsuspecting travelers as drug mules or Balinese authorities looking for some easy bribe money. They are only theories, but in reality, no more so than Schapelle packing the drugs herself.
To be fair, the Corbys have made their share of mistakes. They’ve trusted people they shouldn’t have and haven’t trusted people they should have. But then again, it’s easy to be judgmental from the comfort of our homes.
5 Years Later
Schapelle has spent the past 5 years of her life at the infamous Kerobokan Prison in Bali. A place that makes Guantanamo look like a 5 star resort. If it wasn’t bad enough being forced to live in a world, few of us can even imagine, Schapelle has also had to endure the loss of her beloved father and step-father. She appears to be an amazingly strong person, but the ongoing suffering has taken its toll.
Here is a recent account from a friend who recently visited Schapelle:
I saw Schapelle just 8 months ago and I noticed a MASSIVE deterioration in her condition.
When she wasn't staring into space and rocking from side to side, or looking around intently seeing cameras everywhere and goodness knows what other demons, she was making frequent references to suicide and death. From time to time the Schapelle I remember would resurface from the depths, but this occurred infrequently. From other comments she made, and in particular, references to her Dad, I have no doubt that Dr. Phillip's assessment of Schapelle is 100% correct.
Schapelle now thinks she is ugly and this could very well be attributed to the November 9th issue of Woman's Day which shows a photo time-line of her from 2004 to 2008, using very uncomplimentary photos. In truth, Schapelle is still beautiful, although her ongoing nightmare experience is taking its toll. The people who produce these articles need to show far more sensitivity in future, bearing in mind that if the articles are about Schapelle she is more than likely going to see them. We bought Schapelle some lovely new dresses to try and lift her spirits and make her feel beautiful again.
Schapelle also thinks she is stupid, but this is more than likely the result of being called "Stupid Head" by other prisoners.
On our last visit with Schapelle, we went in with so many gifts for her that she had to get one of the male prisoners in the visiting area to help her carry them back into hell, yet they appeared to give her no joy whatsoever. When we left the prison and were being driven back to our hotel in a cab, we were both crying and venting intense anger for most of the journey.
Schapelle is Innocent and what has happened, and continues to happen to her and her family is, without doubt, one of the greatest travesties of justice in Australia's history. To all those who read this post, I beg you to show compassion for her. Regardless of your opinion on her Innocence or Guilt, she has suffered enough, in fact 100 x enough, and she has absolutely got to come home on humanitarian grounds, RIGHT NOW . If not, Australians will soon read in their newspapers of her death.
It’s very easy to justify this kind of suffering by saying, well, she asked for it. It’s far more difficult and inconvenient to entertain the idea that maybe she didn’t do it.
Diplomacy
I keep hearing about this nonsense about trying to negotiate a Prisoner Transfer Agreement, that’s exactly what it is: nonsense. In just this past year, the US has retrieved two journalists from North Korea and one misguided “freedom fighter” from Myanmar. No PTAs were involved. We will also get our three wayward hikers back from Iran without a PTA. These US citizens were all convicted of crimes under the laws of those countries. A few years ago Bulgaria (with the help of France) got back eight of their citizens who here on death row in Libya for allegedly infection children with the AIDS virus. Again, not a PTA in sight. What did happen in all these cases was good old fashioned roll-up your sleeves, back-room diplomacy.
Why You Should Care
You may be wondering why you should gave a damn about Schapelle Corby which is a legitimate question. Here’s my response:
1) You should care because this isn’t only about Schapelle Corby. This is just another example of the moral cowardice displayed by our leaders at an alarmingly frequent rate. It’s wrong for our elected officials to choose political expediency over human life.
2) You should care because sometime it may be you or your wife, sister, or daughter that ends up in a bad situation and needs the faith and help of others to rectify the situation.
3) You should care because you and you alone have the opportunity to save a woman’s life. You may think that there are organizations out there for just this sort of thing. Well, organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have very specific guidelines for the people they help. Unfortunately, Schapelle’s situation does not fall under those guidelines. This means that it’s up to the citizens of Australia to make it known to their elected officials that this is not acceptable!
Sure, you can tell me to mind my own American business, but that doesn’t change the fact that there is a young woman who is deeply suffering and may not have done anything to deserve it.
You can help make this the last Christmas Schapelle spends in prison and not just her last Christmas.
http://www.freeschapelle.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3705
sarcasm0
Posts: 1396
Date Joined: 25/06/09
I was going to yawn
But seriously, WTF?
May 27, 2010 10:21 am
But everyday, nothing.
If people outside the region fail to take an interest in the case of Schapelle Corby, that may be regrettable, but at least it’s understandable. Australia is very far away, Indonesia is a largely unknown exotic country, and Tara Hack hasn’t been on Oprah. So if Canadians, Americans and sundry Europeans are more concerned with events in Haiti, Africa or elsewhere, who can blame them?
But Australia?
Aside from the supporters, the people down under seem to be asleep at the switch. And these comments are addressed to them – not the members of this forum.
This is your girl, your country, your airports, your neighbor. This whole disaster unfolded right in front of you, and you just sit there doing nothing?
Disaster? Of her own making, What am I supposed to do stop her from transporting drugs into a country that has a clear history of punishing drug smugglers as they see fit?
Schapelle’s plight isn’t the only problem here. There are larger issues at stake, and the biggest problem is that ordinary Australians don’t seem to think there is one.
What problem? A country enforcing their own laws?
What’s going to happen to relations between Australia and Indonesia if things turn out badly? We worry about an angry mob showing up in front of the Indonesian embassy. Everybody else seems to think that most Australians will simply shrug their shoulders, open another beer, and throw a few more shrimp on the barbie. I don’t know which scenario scares me more – that Australians will care too much when it’s too late, or that they won’t care at all even when it is.
Nice segway, but. Australias embassy in Jakarta has been shut since before I was there for 3 months on two trips while working there in 2007/2008. I dont see too many Indonesians to concerned about it.
What’s going to happen if Osma Bin Laden’s finest decide to come after you? The Schapelle Corby case revealed all kinds of security flaws at your airports and the Wheeler report made them official. Is anyone paying attention?
What do you want? More invasion of privacy laws and delays at airports _After_ the 911 changes? Just this week there is a story about customs changing the incomming declaration box to include a "are you carrying porn" question.
People tell me that bombs are fundamentally different than drugs, and that your security people are much better at detecting one than the other. So far so good. Except that on March 22 of last year, a biker was beaten to death in the passengers lounge of Australia’s biggest airport. That can happen anywhere. But the police not showing up for 15 minutes? That doesn’t happen anywhere.
Its a bit hard to be worrying about people commiting assaults/manslaughter in the arrivals lounge when you want them to be up everyones arse sniffing for drugs and bombs. Which is more relevant?
And then, there’s the confession. Many people believe that Schapelle’s application for clemency won’t work without a confession. For what it’s worth, my position has always been that a confession should only be considered if the pardon is guaranteed in writing in advance.
Confessions are not about receiving a pardon, they are for the guilty to take responsibility for their own actions and accept the result.
There’s only one problem. Confessions are for the guilty. But what about people who are innocent, but confess anyway because “that’s how things are done over there”?
How many innocent people have done the sensible thing? How many of them signed the confession, paid the bribes, did the three months or three years and went home in silence – thereby legitimizing shoddy police work and setting the stage for the next victim? When does the price of submission become too damned high? The 10th time an innocent person goes to jail? The 100th?
When Australia takes notice of its own shoddy police work stopping drugs getting to indonesia, maybe then we can consider throwing stones at another countries judicial process.
Maybe the problem is that Australia has become a society of isolated individuals. Maybe the average citizen no longer feels connected to anyone outside of their family and a small circle of acquaintances. If that’s really true, then the answer to the above questions is simple, stark, and terrifying: Australians just don’t give a damn about each other.
Hrmm, I seem to remember a bushfire and a tsunami that Australians cared deeply enough about to empty their pockets over. The tsunami didnt even damage australia, and the bushfires were in victoria!
Or maybe the problem is that the victims are disposable. The dead guy at the airport was a bikie, so we don’t have to worry about what his case tells us about airport security. The Bali 9 are drug mules, so we don’t have to worry about what their case tells us about the AFP. And Schapelle Corby is……..oh, what’s that word, again? Slogan….Hogan…..BOGAN!! Yes that’s it! BOGAN! Bogan is the magic word that makes everything OK. Because she and her family are boganians or boganites or whatever the plural of the word is, we don’t have to think about her either.
Criminals. Commiting crime against another country, or against other criminals. Cry me a river.
I have seen the bigger picture, and it is not encouraging.
There are times when I am tempted to ask if the people of Australia have special training, or if they just have a natural talent for stupidity.
I guess Corby and the bali nine went to some sort of training school to learn how not to read signs in our airports, and the indonesian ones which clearly state the penalties for their actions.
Leemo
Posts: 3712
Date Joined: 22/02/07
good work Sarcasm0. some
good work Sarcasm0. some people just never learn do they?
bludgin' since 94'
sea-kem
Posts: 14973
Date Joined: 30/11/09
HAHAHAHA ditto!
HAHAHAHA ditto!
Love the West!
Paully
Posts: 3246
Date Joined: 15/08/09
Yeh Me Too
Double ditto !!!! Sarcasm0 sums it up pretty well - No more to say.
scottbec
Posts: 242
Date Joined: 18/01/07
ditto ditto ditto
Sarcasmo hit the nail on the head...
cuthbad
Posts: 1266
Date Joined: 22/04/09
That rant is all over the
That rant is all over the place....
Calling Australians idiots who dont give a damn about each other? pretty harsh
Rod P
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 20/05/08
Yes shorty i think no one
Yes shorty i think no one really cares. It now the Aussie way. NOT MY PROBLEM.
I honestly thought i was the only one who really thought she was innocent. As for our airports systems, what a joke. The Wheeler report most people wouldn't even believe it was true.
I can say i mostly blame our government. Sadly if only she'd payed her way out like any others have done so since she was caught she'd be home a long time ago. I applaud her for her convictions.
Thanks for highlighting her page to me.
Rod P
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 20/05/08
So what would you do if you
So what would you do if you arrived in a overseas country and someone had put drugs in your bag?
You'd be on your own i guess.
This from the Wheller report befor anyone claims it dosn't happen.
XIV Cargo screening
82. Though Australia is well ahead of most countries in having
some form of security regime for cargo carried by aircraft, the
regime must be tightened further. The present system contains
gaps and inconsistencies. It sees international cargo examined
for contraband as it enters Australia, and QANTAS inspects
cargo for explosives as it leaves the country. But cargo on flights
within Australia is examined only at some airports and not all
cargo is subject to physical inspection. This system does not
prevent the shipment of drugs or illegal commodities and cash
within Australia. Also, it has the potential to permit explosives
and explosive devices on passenger aircraft. The Australian
Government is already moving ahead with plans to tighten up
the cargo-screening system, and this Review strongly supports
extending that effort.
Page 111 of the Wheller report into our airports.
• basic drug-dealing and the use of drugs does occur at airports,
but this appears to be a relatively small-scale issue
• the major problem is the importation and transit through
airports of shipments of illicit narcotics bound ultimately for
delivery off-airport
• with screening for drugs of passengers, baggage and cargo done
only on arriving international flights, and not on domestic
flights nor on those departing internationally, the full
dimensions of the problem remain unclear;
• cannabis is moved through airports, but its importance does not
rival that of heroin, cocaine, or amphetamine-based drugs
• a particular worry will prove to be the high number of professional
criminal organisations with international connections
• because of the substantial sums of money involved, it will
probably turn out to be drug-related criminals who are most
responsible for subverting or suborning airline and airport
employees.
Paully
Posts: 3246
Date Joined: 15/08/09
So according to dot point three
of page 111, Corby's baggage would not have been screened for drugs upon her leaving the country?
Rod P
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 20/05/08
Yep. Actually most of cargo
Yep. Actually most of cargo through out Australia is not screened at all. Makes you feel reel safe flying doesn't it!
So why wouldn't organise crime use local cargo to ship money, drugs, guns really what ever they liked from point A to point B.
Thats my argument, that the point b dropped the ball and the drugs went on to Indo in some poor unsuspecting smucks bag to get caught red handed like a bunny in head lights and then 20 years in jail.
Could happen to anyone.
Paully
Posts: 3246
Date Joined: 15/08/09
mmmm, I may be looking at this wrong
but if that is the case with not being screened, doesn't that give her the opportunity to export it? Just throwing it out there and tell me, how could you not notice the extra cargo? One more thing again, throwing it out there - if the gear cost you nothing, then wouldn't you be $2000 in front if in fact that was what it was worth as pointed out on here. The fact that it would be worth more in another market is irrelevant as far as i am concerned. Now, I haven't been to Indonesia, but couldn't one live like a king over there with $2000 AD.
Rod P
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 20/05/08
Seriously? Why would you not
Seriously? Why would you not sell the drugs in Aussie for $40000 and then go to Bali with that money.
Anyway it goes to internet really, thats why the mention of it in the first place. But hey why not try and sell sand in the desert.. Maybe there's her next adventure.
Paully
Posts: 3246
Date Joined: 15/08/09
So what
she then has to spend $30001.00 in Indonesia, don't think so.
poketz
Posts: 119
Date Joined: 13/05/09
frieght
i do domestic freight from perth airport and was a baggage handler for nearly 2 years. since january 1st last year everybag and every peice of cargo must be screened for drugs and explosives (or any dangerous goods or restricted items if not declared) before it is lodged with the airline for travel.
it used to be around 50% when i first started at the airport but it got ramped up. also all employees bags are checked before they go airside. sniffer dogs are also nearly permantly airside checking bags and cargo.
this is all ex perth and we are not as uptight as sydney or melbourne. im not sure about the international front i dnt export internationally but inbond it is screened for explosives and somethimes drugs.
cheers. poketz
STEVE231
Posts: 1443
Date Joined: 05/01/10
That killed ten minutes!!
I don't think the Corby's are as innocent as they might protest.
Paully
Posts: 3246
Date Joined: 15/08/09
Excuse my ignorance
but how does that support the theory the Corby is innocent?
Indiana
Posts: 307
Date Joined: 15/12/09
Hard Justice !
In our justice system the sentenence far exceeds the crime ........however she went into this with her eyes open and got caught and was convicted .
There are plenty of people who need saving in this world ,both here and oversea's ..........so why does a convicted drug trafficer deserve our help or consideration ?
I'd much rather spend the time and money helping people who cant help themselves !
" IF YOUR NOT GOING TO EAT IT ......PUT IT BACK WHERE YOU CAUGHT IT"
Rod P
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 20/05/08
It shows that its possible.
It shows that its possible. Also that coupled with the fact that the day the drugs passed through Sydney airport the police had arrested a guy who claims to be waiting for a call for a drug movement coming his way that morning. Oh that and the fact that the CCTV camera where not working, sorry turned of the morning her bags came through the terminal. It doesn't prove she's not guilty but it does go along way to throwing a huge amount of doubt onto her case.
OH and if she was guilty why not just pay the first bribe and she'd be home already?
I personally know of a high end case here that simply paid out and honestly its very easy. The Aussie government even brokered the deal. I think from date to press than to court ,pay out took about two weeks.
SO my question is still this what would you do if you arrived there and you were innocent? Would you just roll over and how would you feel if the country you called home just wrote you of...
Rod P
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 20/05/08
Sorry one more interesting
Sorry one more interesting question. WHY would a Aussie drug dealer take approx $40000 dollars worth of drugs over to a country that has death sentences for drug trafficking to sell it there for what was valued at $2000 on the Indo market?
Please someone show me commence is not all but lost?
wadetolley
Posts: 2258
Date Joined: 27/06/08
yes
Yes Rod, i have been saying that to people all along! Why would you bother?? anyone knows you wont be making any money selling it over there. If it was for personal use, shit she smokes alot.
ruste13
Posts: 249
Date Joined: 07/02/10
hey rod, hope all's well,
hey rod,
hope all's well, good post mate, thers allways two side to an argument.
i dont think that its just the aussie way to think "not my problem", i think its a world wide view....stern hoo got punked aswell, so its not to do with your nationality or the country it happened in either.
i would imagine theres a lot of aussies rotting in over seas jail for different crimes.
what supprises me is that at first she got 10 years, then they appealled it and she got 20!!
that was some good legal advice there, and guilty or not why not just pay the bribe...that hwo it works in indo....$50,000, $100,000 who cares, better than 20 years.
But to answer the question...Do i care? not in the slightest.
i just finished reading the book Marching powder by Rusty Young really interesting book about an english drug smuggler.
cheers russ
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
It was rumoured to have cost
It was rumoured to have cost $250,000 to get Michelle Leslie out of jail (2 Estacty tablets) The mind boggles at what it might have cost Schapelle.
I read Marching Powder,,great book (and he was guilty)
Rod P
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 20/05/08
My opinion she would have
My opinion she would have paid more like $15000 aussie to the Indo's. The local government, well they'd want a lot more!!!
pweter
Posts: 12
Date Joined: 11/05/10
i pity sarcasm's fingers
i pity sarcasm's fingers for typing, or maybe he is a PA to a manager. :) :)
all he had to type was who gives a f*&^%k
Tony Halliday
Posts: 2500
Date Joined: 14/06/07
yip, 8kg in a boogey board
yip, 8kg in a boogey board bag and you can't feel the diference...right!!!! pull the other one mate.
if she did not do it, it was a member of her family that did. When you pick up your backs and it has the weight of a nice sized dhuie extra in it, YOU NOTICE!
but hey who gives a dam in this world anymore...
Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~
It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it
"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
"In a mad world only the mad are sane." Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
It was 4 kilos and Schapelle
It was 4 kilos and Schapelle never carried the bag to the counter (she had her arms full) from memory it was her half brother that carried it,,tho where a 17 year old would get hold of $40,000 worth of MJ i don't know (talking about the family angle)
Tony Halliday
Posts: 2500
Date Joined: 14/06/07
yip you right, I got the
yip you right, I got the figure wrong
Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~
It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it
"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
"In a mad world only the mad are sane." Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)
brenz
Posts: 2182
Date Joined: 15/06/06
i forgot about her .... ooops
i forgot about her .... ooops
Muppet
Posts: 408
Date Joined: 23/11/09
I would almost
I would almost consider it relevant if she was smuggling fish !
What the hell. Think it has been posted on the wrong website somehow.........
.
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
She has spent her life
She has spent her life cooking fish (fish and chips) so she is one of us
Actually i thought there would be close to 100% support for her so i was not expecting spirited and emotional debate,,just well wishes, its been an eye opener for me to see the varied opiniions,i thank members for that.
Rod P
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 20/05/08
Yeah agree, got what i
Yeah agree, got what i needed.
I'll stick to talking only fishing and Footy.
Paully
Posts: 3246
Date Joined: 15/08/09
Fair comment really
I'm bored, it's the only reason I'm posting on this matter.
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
Well a lot of folks have
Well a lot of folks have muddied the water since that day in 2004,saying the Corbys were drug dealers on the Gold Coast etc (they would have sold it there if that was the case)
My problem is theres no evidence that says its hers, a drug sydicate was busted at Sydney airport the same day as she transitted through,,the Indos refused to test the bags for fingerprints and DNA test for country of origin,a lot of folks belive it was placed in Indonesia,,which is good reason for them to destroy the evidence before it can be tested.
The Indos were pissed off at Downer and Howard in those days and were looking massive external funding for the war on drugs (own pockets probally)
Anyway theres a plea for clemency at the moment before President SBY ,if this fails chances are she will die in jail.
Would you like to see this happen to your sister,daughter,Mother ? and Australians saying i don't get a duck ?
Remember nobody exports drugs to Bali,,never have never will,,drugs are worth a pittance compared to what you can get here.
ruste13
Posts: 249
Date Joined: 07/02/10
why will she die in jail
why will she die in jail shorty??
sarcasm0
Posts: 1396
Date Joined: 25/06/09
I find the topic interesting
One thing I have picked up on reading from the freeschapell.com.au website and the links/blogs on it is the figure $40000. 4.2Kg of weed / $40000 lets do some sums.
4200g/28g(an ounce) = 150 Ounces. 150 x $250(Approximate AU Street value per ounce) = $37500.00
So I guess rounding up to $40000 is close, but that is at a buying price of an ounce, I would think if you were buying 150 of them you might get a discount, probably nearly half price. So $20000 of weed. If you sold in in Bali as 25$ bags (minimum 16 per oz probably closer to 18-20) to people from western countries used to high price. You would be making at least 150$ profit per ounce or $60000 over the total. Looks like $40000 dollars profit to me. Probaly twice as much cause they would sell a 25$ for $50 to make it worth the risk of being killed for your efforts.
A lot of the stuff on the freeschapell.com.au site uses the "its not even worth it" argument. If this weed was high grade hydro you would make even more money and the demand in Bali would be there from people sick of buying skanky Bali weed with little bud, plenty of stem and lots of leaf. One of the articles : http://mooresaussiegold.blogspot.com/ makes a hilarious comparison of soil grown marijuana from Indonesia being superior to hydroponically grown australian weed.
Schapelle was going to Bali with her half brother, involved in drugs/assualt back here, to visit her sister and her Balinese husband who were also holidaying in Bali. Most of the above article is supposedly debunking an article by Matthew Moore about Australian weed being imported to Bali(http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/05/25/1116950758434.html) which is quoted in the text. The author questions how Australians can sell marijuana when it appears to be controlled by the Indonesian/Bali police. Perhaps her Balinese brother in law was shifting it on?
Anyway 911 happened in 2001, Bali Bombing in 2002, im not sure exactly when the air travel security measures came in but they certainly stated lock your bags and do not leave them unattended. Schapelle was arrested in Oct 2004 with the Marijuana in her possession.
Some quotes from the Schapelle Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schapelle_Corby
According to Professor Tim Lindsay, director of the University of Melbourne's Asian Law Centre, the prosecution had a prima facie case against Corby, established merely by her possession of the drugs, regardless of her knowledge. In a lecture given at Melbourne University, he said: "Suffice to say that being caught with drugs on you, whether strapped to you or in a bag that is your property, is probably going to be sufficient in most instances for the prosecution to establish a prima facie case. The question then arises as to how that prima facie case is answered by a defence team." [10]
It has been suggested that the strength of the evidence at hand would have meant Corby faced likely conviction had she been tried for the same offence in Australia.[11]
Corby's lawyers argued that she had no knowledge of the cannabis until customs officials at the airport found it. They claimed that baggage handlers in Brisbane may have put the cannabis in her bag without her knowledge, acting as part of an inter-state drug smuggling network. According to her lawyers, the cannabis was to be removed in Sydney, but was not. Corby's former lawyer, Robin Tampoe, stated in a program shown on Channel Nine Australia on 23 June 2008 that he made up the claim about the baggage handlers, a central argument in Corby's defence that led to widespread speculation about corruption among airport staff.
John Patrick Ford, a prisoner at Port Phillip Prison who was awaiting trial and was subsequently convicted on unrelated charges, was flown to Indonesia to give evidence in Corby's defence.
Ford testified that he overheard a conversation in prison between two men and alleged that one of the men planted the marijuana in Corby's boogie board bag in Brisbane with the intention of having another person remove it in Sydney. He stated that the drugs were owned by Ron Vigenser, who had been a prisoner at the same jail as Ford.[12] He stated that a mix-up resulted in the marijuana not being removed and subsequently being transported to Indonesia, all without Corby's knowledge. He refused to name the man who he claimed planted the drugs. In the Australian media, Vigenser has strongly denied any connection with the drugs and has reportedly given a statement to the Australian Federal Police.
A $1,000,000 AUD reward was offered for information to substantiate claims made by Ford about baggage handlers with no result. Following his return from Bali, Ford was convicted of rape. Subsequently, in prison, he was beaten and stabbed and then held in solitary protective custody.[13]
The prosecution pointed out that his evidence was entirely hearsay and that he was facing trial for several serious offences in Australia. Legal commentators in Australia have remarked that Ford's testimony, as hearsay, would be inadmissible evidence in an Australian court. Professor Tim Lindsay stated that the defence case contained "virtually nothing that was admissible evidence to be given weight under Indonesian criminal procedure law".[14] An Indonesian judge referred to Ford's evidence as "Hearsay upon hearsay".
Ron Bakir, a Gold Coast entrepreneur and discharged bankrupt,[18] claimed that he had retained the services of the Australian law firm Hoolihans to investigate the origin of the drugs. He made statements suggesting that he would fund Corby's defence. Bakir later registered a company titled Schapelle Corby Pty Ltd.[19] It was reported that he told the Corby family that they owed him $500,000, though Bakir denied this.[20]
Bakir accused the prosecution team (chief prosecutor Ida Bagus Wiswantanu) of seeking a bribe to reduce the requested sentence. The prosecution team and the Indonesian government vehemently denied that this occurred. Corby's legal team were openly angry with Bakir since this could cause the imposition of a more severe penalty.[21]
Bakir cut ties with the Schapelle Corby case on 24 June 2005 after Corby wrote a letter asking him to disassociate himself.[20] Schapelle Corby Pty Ltd was voluntarily deregistered on 23 October 2005.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Corby flew out of Sydney on the same day (8 October 2004) as a large shipment of cocaine was shipped out of the airport by a drug ring involving corrupt baggage handlers. During the week of 9 May 2005 several arrests occurred in Australia related to cocaine smuggling through Sydney airport. Her defence claimed that the cannabis was planted in her bag by mistake by baggage handlers.
However, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner, Mick Keelty, stated that a key aspect of her defence was not supported by the available intelligence [15] and that the cocaine-smuggling ring which had been discovered involved the reception of shipments of drugs from overseas, not the transportation of drugs domestically.[16]
In a June 2008 documentary, Schapelle Corby: The Hidden Truth, Corby's former lawyer, Robin Tampoe, said that he fabricated the defence theory that Australian baggage handlers could have planted the drugs in Corby's luggage and that former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer told him he suspected Corby's brothers were behind the convicted drug smuggler's crime.[17]
7739ian
Posts: 948
Date Joined: 25/06/08
Bugger Schappelle and
the whole bloody family has the class of the Morans - i'm sorry i didn't bare my bum at her when i passed the gaol last month - imagine, 10 days in Bali and i only thought of her for the 20 seconds it took to pass Kerokoban Gaol.
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
Why Ian ??? none of the
Why Ian ??? none of the Corbys have convictions for dealing drugs and never suspected of it by the police,,Schapelle spent two years working in her mothers fish and chip shop to save for the trip.
I know heaps of shady charactors have said they brought from the Corbys,,after a journos check book came out or was that cash under the table ?
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
I know some journalists
I know some journalists spoke to some Balinese drug dealers, theysaid they had spoken amonsgt themselves about things,,none had heard of the Corbys and there was no demand for Australian Hydro MJ, the biggest reason being when people go to Bali they want cheap Bintang,Tshirts , MJ is what they said,,
Heres a bit from Mercedes that i found interesting,,the girls were life savers on the Gold Coast and enjoyed surfing,,
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/sunday-magazine/my-life-mercedes-corby/story-e6frf039-1111113336714
joe amato
Posts: 731
Date Joined: 21/12/08
do the crime do the time
this thing with shapell and the bali 9 ,i have no sympathy ,drugs destroy peoples lives, if you take a risk on importing drugs ,you should know the penalties and deal with the consequences in this country aswell in asian countries drug laws,you should obey their laws,only when people like schapell and the bali 9 get caught they plead inocent,they knew the risks aswel as anybody undertaking a drug venture,like i say do the crime and do the time,guess your better off dead in schapells and the bali 9,
daniel tomasi
Posts: 75
Date Joined: 21/08/08
and how many crims are in
and how many crims are in aussie jails all claiming that they are innocent. as far as im concerned there is only 1 problem: she got caught in bali with a bag full off weed. do the crime pay the time and dont expect any sympathy from me
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
Image is everything...
....how many other Aussies are incarcerated in third world country jails around the world for doing exactly the same thing? Answer=lots. But most of them aren't a reasonably attractive looking bit of fluff like Schappelle so who cares? And a big chunk of them wouldn't have been carrying as much dope as she was.
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
Interesting comments,, i
Interesting comments,, i like this post from an American lady,,
http://www.freeschapelle.com.au/xmas2009/page8.html
Decella
Posts: 401
Date Joined: 01/02/09
Whats next
are we gonna get free issues to womens weekly shorty? I'm sure there are lots of forums out there that luv this shit.
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
Well Decella,if she gets a
Well Decella,if she gets a pardon (its before President LBY now) you will get it on the newspapers,T.V for a month straight
If she dies same thing you will not hear the end of it for some time.
Just as a matter of interest for Western Australia,,,the boogie bag went through 4 airports Brisbane dom,Sydneydom,Sydney international and Depesar,,its not like Perth striaght through,,criminal gangs have always used other folks luggage to transport drugs etc,,,hopefully it does not happen to anyone else,,,
Even the AFP are involved,,
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/afp-involved-in-drug-smuggling-exdetective/2005/05/08/1115491036872.html
Decella
Posts: 401
Date Joined: 01/02/09
But she hasn't
got a pardon or died has she? Like I wrote previously there are alot of forums that luv this shit they are read by alot of ladies not fishermen.
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
What i am saying is it could
What i am saying is it could be just days away (pardon)
President LBY has got the plea for clemency in front of him as we speak .
No pardon and i reckon she will die,,not good for an Aussie battler who has save lives (surf life saving) And who can forget Mercedes helping in the 2005 bali bombings ? two great Australians.
OK back to what i caught today threads
sea-kem
Posts: 14973
Date Joined: 30/11/09
What doesn't make sense if
What doesn't make sense if it was some syndicate trying to export drugs, why would they shove it in a boogie board bag that is likely to be searched at customs. my theory is that she was definately in on the plot. flash your pretty eyes at the customs officers looking like the penultimate goodlooking surfie chick and you'll be right. But her and her mates got came unstuck. And she has to carry the can for the lot of them.Going through 4 airports it probably stayed in the luggage hold of the same plane.
Love the West!
joe amato
Posts: 731
Date Joined: 21/12/08
who knows,maybe their was a shortage in bali
who knows maybe their was a shortage of high grade pot in bali and shapelle agreed to do it knowing the risks ,and also getting paid when she came back,has that crossed anybodys mind,anyway she knew what was the risk
Paul G
Posts: 5215
Date Joined: 12/12/07
Who are you talking about
Who are you talking about ????
Active Gyp-Rok solutions ,Residential and commercial ceilings and walls
joe amato
Posts: 731
Date Joined: 21/12/08
im talking about shapelle
im talking about schapelle paul,if you read my previous comments prior to this comment
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
Theres been no demand for
Theres been no demand for high grade pot according to local Balinese dealers, people buy local ganja because its cheap,thats one of the attractions of Bali for Wersterners,, everything cheap.
train
Posts: 102
Date Joined: 09/03/09
deserves it
let the bitch rot in jail
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
Serves her right for not
Serves her right for not putting a lock on her bag you reckon ?
Bit harsh,, it can happen to anyone of us it only takes a few seconds for someone to put it in your bag.
sarcasm0
Posts: 1396
Date Joined: 25/06/09
As I said shorty
The changes to aircraft security measures and advice after 911 were well and truly in place by oct 2004. They clearly state, lock your bags and do not leave them unattended/let someone else pack for you.
Even before that advice came in I never travelled with an unlocked bag.
IF she didnt do it and was set up, well then that sucks. But, As per my above post from wikipedia
"
According to Professor Tim Lindsay, director of the University of Melbourne's Asian Law
Centre, the prosecution had a prima
facie case against Corby, established merely by her possession
of the drugs, regardless of her knowledge. In a lecture given at
Melbourne University, he said: "Suffice to say that being caught with
drugs on you, whether strapped to you or in a bag that is your property,
is probably going to be sufficient in most instances for the
prosecution to establish a prima facie case. The question then arises as
to how that prima facie case is answered by a defence team." [10]
It has been suggested that the strength of the evidence at hand would
have meant Corby faced likely conviction had she been tried for the
same offence in Australia.[11]"
If she would have been tried and convicted for it here then what is the problem?
She didnt take steps to secure her luggage and is now in the shit (If someone else put it there - Which I highly doubt) TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS (OR IN THIS CASE INACTION OF LOCKING HER BAGS).
All this shit about cameras out and other dealers being busted (btw, cocaine importers, not domestic marijuana dealers) on the same day is just background noise.
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
Theres no way she would have
Theres no way she would have been convicted here on that evidence.
The bags would have been tested and proper procedues followed,,do you know this is not the first time it has happen ? An elderly Melbourne couple had it happen to them,,lucky they dicovered it in the hotel room,,the embassy told them to get rid of it ,,heres a link if anybody can fix it for me,,i think i have stuffed up with embedding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiLR-yx3mdw&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lwKbkZzEJQ&feature=related
Rod P
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 20/05/08
I have always said i
I have always said i believed there was a local link via our airports and drug smugglers.
But i know have changed my mind.
Having said that lets look at the facts.
Okay she had the drugs in her bag. When stopped they asked who's bag it was and she said hers even though she was not holding it. They opened that bag and started to congratulate each other. They actually didn't check any of her other bag es, nor any of the passengers that traveled with her. WHY? Also they then handled the bag completely even to the point of smudging finger prints of. They never weighed her bag that would have have proven there case that the drugs came from Aussie. They never tested the bag for fingerprints or any DNA that would have proven she did it.
They never even tested the drugs to check on origin that also proves she did brought drugs from Aussie. WHY NOT?
So she is spending 20 years in jail because she simply had them in her bag.
Australian government has never asked for any other proof to be put forward to confirm that one of there citizens is not being fairly untreated. In fact our Australian government has not even made any investigation of any drugs relating to the explortation of them from Aussie. No inquiry from out customs or Aussie federal police to that nature at all.??? Seems a little strange really.
SO what do we know for sure. The drugs were in her bag. She has all along said she is Innocent. Not after all these years has she changed her conviction. Not even when her own country has turned on her. And why because she is guilt according to most.
She is different to the Bali 9. They had it strapped to there bodies. Obviously they new the drugs were there.
So is she guilty. Yes she had the drugs on her and she's guilty of being setup, or just guilty of being unlucky. Lets hope that if any of our family get found guilty of being unlucky they don't spend 20 years in a overseas jail.
If only she'd been a sheep maybe then maybe she'd of got a second look.
ody
Posts: 581
Date Joined: 30/12/06
Hi Ya,Have Australians
Hi Ya,
Have Australians forgotten Corby? Probably. I know a lot of people I got so sick and tired of hearing about her ever other day on the TV.
If you really want to find a case of injustice, look very deeply into the Martin Bryant (convicted of Port Arthur massacre). He couldn't have possible done it. He was mentally deficient to start with; had nothing like the marksmanship capability of that demonstrated by the murderer; and number of other very questionable things. I have a very interesting book at home written by an investigative journalist which to my mind raises many very serious unanswered questions.
But that is another matter altogether.
Cheers.
Paully
Posts: 3246
Date Joined: 15/08/09
Dear me ody
A book written by an investigative journalist - Now that must be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth !!
ody
Posts: 581
Date Joined: 30/12/06
Hi Ya, Good
Hi Ya,
Good comment given you have no idea of the authors credentials.
Cheers.
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
Thanks for all the
Thanks for all the comments,,its a difficult and controvesial subject,,i would like to request the thread gets closed this evening at the Admins descrestion
See ya on the water,,,
Albee Mangles
Posts: 985
Date Joined: 20/05/08
ROFL, Onya Shorty!!
It's classic, youre like the bloke who throws a match in a bucket of petrol then starts screaming for everyone to put it out!!!
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
Shouldn't you be getting
Shouldn't you be getting ready for fishing tommorow ?
The Snapper awaits
saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
Anyone remember
Anyone remember these?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Bali_bombings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Australian_embassy_bombing_in_Jakarta
All the boat refugees have to go through an Indonesian port to get to Australia
Some interesting points:
Criticism of the prosecution's case included:
Angling tourism is worth $10 billion to the Australian economy - 90000 jobs; more than any sport; spread the word
sea-kem
Posts: 14973
Date Joined: 30/11/09
yaaaawwwwnnnnnn
yaaaawwwwnnnnnn
Love the West!
diver
Posts: 149
Date Joined: 25/09/08
I applaud Sarcasmos
Comments, I think it is a tragedy that Corby is in prison,as I think that she took the fall for her brother.The facts are, members of her family have been involved in illicit drugs, Father, for personal use? her brother, I think he is inside now, I could be wrong,The qeustion,why take marijuana from Australia to Bali, worth $40grand. Its a better grade than the local grown & worth more in the resale. But regardless of any thing, I hate drug dealers. The number of lives that are lost directly through the use of drugs, and the families destroyed, the victims of crime related drugs, theft,assault, road accidents, for what, so that some sleazy low life criminal can make money on the misery of others. I have seeen first hand what drugs do. Diver
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
Schapelle who? I reckon the
Schapelle who? I reckon the whole family was involved in this too. I was told once by someone who knew the family that the time she was caught was probably the 4th or 5th time they trafficked drugs into Bali, and finally got caught.
Cheers
Dale
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
CrazyDhufish
Posts: 15
Date Joined: 06/05/10
WTF
This is a fishing site is it not ???
Schapelle got what she deserved
Anyone who believes the shit that her Lawers, Family and Dumb Supporters fed the public needs to read up a bit more.
Anyway back to fishing
Some really good tailor are swimming around metro ATM