Wow. Just...wow.

[Joga]

News story here... (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3278587a12,00.html)

Okay...here's the lowdown...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/jogaspace/schapelle82c.jpg

I'm pasting this from a letter I got earlier today. -Joga

So i first heard about this case friday, may 6, 2005. It was a short 20 or 30 second clip on a morning show, about 7:50AM.
And now... one of the most depressing true stories you have ever heard...

So, Schapelle Corby is a 27 year old beauty school student in Australia’s Gold Coast. Her sister is married to a man who lives in Bali, Indonesia. She saved her money for months, working and going to school, so she could visit her sister with her 17 year old brother and two other friends. She boards her airplane in Brisbane, Australia, then travels to Sydney, Australia before heading to Bali. Her baggage was checked in Brisbane and she would not see it until Bali, as her baggage will be transferred to her connecting flight.

Schapelle is arrested when she arrives in Bali, charged with smuggling 9 pounds of marijuana in her boogie board bag. The marijuana was carelessly placed right on top of her boogie board, in her unlocked boogie board bag. How? Drug traffickers in Australia use domestic flights and easily accessible bags to transport drugs from major city to major city. However, the 9 pounds of extremely fragrant marijuana were never taken out of her bag in Sydney, therefore it traveled in her bag to Bali.

The consequence for drug smuggling in Bali is DEATH BY 12-MAN FIRING SQUAD, LIFE IN PRISON or (and least likely) 20 YEARS IN PRISON.

i think this is TOTALLY CRAZY. She is so painfully obviously innocent that i can hardly stand it. She has been held in a Bali prison now for 7 months, since OCTOBER 2004. The Indonesian courts will not allow finger prints to be taken from the bag. This news is ALL over Australia, however no one in the United States seems to know about it. So, i immediately felt like the Australian government has to save her, has to talk with the Bali judicial system and government because everyone in Australia publicly believes she is innocent.

Australian actors and actresses are her only public defense as her government sits back and does nothing. Russell Crowe said, “when there is such doubt, how can we, as a country, stand by and let a young lady, as an Australian, rot away in a foreign prison? That is ridiculous. We just gave Indonesia how many hundreds of millions of dollars in tsunami relief? We're not disrespecting your (Indonesia's) laws or anything but in our minds we think there is a massive doubt here.”

If it can happen to an Australian it can happen to anyone. You, me, your mom, your brother, your best friend. It shouldn’t have to be every world travelers fear of being arrested for this reason. Her government SHOULD be behind her and SHOULD help her. But the Australian government has done nothing for an obviously innocent citizen who faces life in prison or DEATH.

What can you do? She finds out her fate THIS THURSDAY.

READ THE ARTICLES:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/apr2005/corb-a06.shtml

http://schapelle.foreignprisoners.com/

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/04/22/1114028530852.html?from=rss&..true

SIGN A PETITION:
http://www.gabriellereillyweekly.com/gabrielle_reilly/australian_community_service/schapelle_corby.htm

WRITE AUSSIE GOVERNMENT:
Parliament House
Canberra
ACT 2600
Australia

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL:
http://www.amnesty.org.au/

There are also links at
http://schapelle.foreignprisoners.com/
where you can write emails or letters to the Australian government. No one should rot in a prison or die for a simple misunderstanding.

If nothing else, AMERICANS should at least KNOW about this and KNOW that this is happening in the MODERN (?) world.

This is honestly my biggest fear. Being convicted of a crime that I did not commit. That is scary.

[Heath]

Death by firing squad? WOW.

[Tzarina]

News story here... (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3278587a12,00.html)

Okay...here's the lowdown...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/jogaspace/schapelle82c.jpg

I'm pasting this from a letter I got earlier today. -Joga



This is honestly my biggest fear. Being convicted of a crime that I did not commit. That is scary.

:frown:

Death by firing squad for some :weed:? Holy fucking shit, I'm putting Bali on the top of my "never go there" list...

This poor girl :crying: even if ya did take some dope... just rediculous... too rediculous...

And the worst part is that these laws are this way BECAUSE of our National Policies on drugs and trafficking. Pathetic...

[Tzarina]

Death by firing squad? WOW.
yea, you noticed that as well... :shame:

[Joga]

I feel so bad for that girl. It reminded me of the movie "Brokedown Palace" when I read it.

[Tzarina]

yea, that was based on a true story i think...

[Joga]

*shudders* that movie was freaky... the part where she gets a cockroach in her ear...

But it had a cool soundtrack!!!

Anyway, when I read this bulletin today, I just couldn't believe that justice systems still allow people to suffer and fall through the cracks like that.

[Tzarina]

all over the world :shame:

[paygee]

sounds like we arent the only ones with a corrupt government.

[phi]

sounds like we arent the only ones with a corrupt government.

Fact.



I hope it doesn't end bad for that poor girl.

[paygee]

Fact.



I hope it doesn't end bad for that poor girl.


i hope so also, sounds pretty bad though..i also was looking around at one of those websites, and noticed a lot of americans all had been "released" after their names. but rarely anyone else. thats fucked.

[Joga]

It most certainly is.

I understand having harsh penalties as a way to deter people from committing crimes, but I think that with the harsh penalties should come a burden of proof on behalf of the government, so that anyone convicted has physical evidence against them. The government here clearly hasn't done anything to prove that she's guilty.

[Hailo]

This crazy, they need to check the baggage handlers, taxi drivers anyone who touched her luggage.

[paygee]

This crazy, they need to check the baggage handlers, taxi drivers anyone who touched her luggage.
they had opportunities to finger print bags and luggage but decided not to.

[phi]

Yeah, what a damn shame :shame:

Hey, check out latest news from : http://schapelle.foreignprisoners.com/

Schapelle wins last-minute hope
Cindy Wockner - Denpasar - 13may05

SHAPELLE Corby's lawyers fired a last-minute salvo yesterday in the battle to save the accused drug smuggler from life in jail.

They convinced a panel of judges to receive transcripts of emerging allegations linking Australian airport baggage handlers and an international drug syndicate after a Sydney cocaine bust.

Chief Judge Linton Sirait refused their request to replay TV news in court, but agreed to receive translations of reports.

But he warned that testimony was closed and they could not be considered legal evidence. He added that the court was not concerned with what happened at Brisbane and Sydney airports.

"We don't need to hear or pay attention to those TV pictures," Judge Sirait said. "We are just handling the case in Denpasar District Court's territory.

"If the incidents are in Brisbane and Sydney airports we will not hear it."

Outside court, he said the transcripts would be accepted as a supplement to the closing statement but not as evidence.

"What happened in Australia is not evidence," he said.

Judgment day for Ms Corby was set down for May 27 after her defence team wound up its case.

Her sister Mercedes carried about 16,000 signatures on petitions of support mailed to her by strangers. She had the same number again at home, she said.

Eleven-year-old Sarah sent one attached to a letter she wrote and signed with a silver heart.

"I am thinking of you and I really hope everything works out. Everyone knows that you are inocent (sic) and no matter what, we will keep on supporting you. Keep smileing. (sic) Love Sarah."

Mercedes said the family had been overwhelmed by the support for her 27-year-old sister.

"It helps to know that so many people support Schapelle. We know Schapelle is innocent, everyone knows Schapelle is innocent. We just want her to come home," Mercedes said.

Her mother, Rosleigh Rose, was also optimistic.

During a brief visit to Ms Corby at the court holding cell, Ms Rose held her hand and said: "I am going to bring you home."

The defence team claims a drug gang was responsible for putting the 4.1kg of marijuana in Ms Corby's unlocked bodyboard bag without her knowledge, perhaps during an Australian airport stopover on the way to Bali.

Mercedes said yesterday she was shocked to learn Sydney airport baggage handlers allegedly were paid $300,000 to allow a 10kg packet of cocaine through the airport on the same day her sister flew from Sydney to Bali.

And she reacted strongly to Australian Federal Police chief Mick Keelty's comments on Wednesday that her defence of being an unwitting drug mule was flimsy. "If anyone wants to make a comment that these things don't happen, aren't they reading the news?" Mercedes asked.

Ms Corby appeared much calmer yesterday than on previous appearances. She was not required to make any statement and waved at her mother and sister as she left the court for the last time before the verdict.

She listened intently as her lawyers read a 17-page final closing address in which they urged the judges to find their client not guilty, accusing the prosecution of manipulating the facts.

They submitted that after Ms Corby checked her luggage in at Brisbane airport, no fewer than nine people would have handled the unlocked bag. And they reiterated that they continually requested the plastic bags containing the drugs be fingerprinted to no avail.


UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE.

[bdf]

WHAT?? That's just sooo bassackwards. :shame:

[Mufumonk]

I feel so bad for that girl. It reminded me of the movie "Brokedown Palace" when I read it.


Ripoff. Watch Return to Paradise (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124595/) instead, or the much older Midnight Express (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077928/).

[jazz]

sounds like we arent the only ones with a corrupt government.

what government isn't?

[paygee]

what government isn't?
i dont know. that was just crazy talk

[jazz]

:wired:

[bdf]

what government isn't?
:werd:

[Joga]

The verdict came back today. She has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. :no:

[paygee]

:sigh:

[mud_]

and now we all look for something else unjust to complain about

while schapelle spends at LEAST (best case scenario with appeals and shit) a year in a bali prison

:sarcasm:

[Ellen Degenerate]

the verdict for a NZ man, who killed a woman with a samurai sword and choped the hands off another, of a 20 year prison sentance came about the same time as schapelle's 20 years.

it makes me sick this man only gets 20 years, but not as sick as the fact schapelle gets the same ammount of time for something so much less terrible and something she obviously didn't do.

[spinnin'dervish]

i hope drugs become legal one day! becuase what is going on in hte entire world is clearly riddiculas

[Raynoch11]

Wait, can anyone here actually prove she's innocent? Or is it a "well she's white she must be innocent, how dare these brown skinned people do this to her?" type of thing?

Not to sound mean or anything, but supposedly she was caught with over 9lbs. of weed. That's a lot, that's something you'd notice. Your luggage doesn't weight hundreds of pounds or any other amount that would keep you from noticing a rather large increase in weight.

I'm not saying she did anything wrong or that she's innocent, but there's a lot about this case that seems odd.

[paygee]

um

i dont think she touched her bag inbetween flights...therefor she wouldnt know it was heavier


they basically said, "we dont know who did this, so we have to blame you"

that right there says to me, they knew she was innocent, but didnt care.

[Raynoch11]

They were found in her luggage, not someone else's, that's why she was blamed. Again, I'm not saying she did anything wrong here.

But she is guilty of a crime under their law, and she was going to a place with some of the strictest laws on earth regarding drugs. Note, the judges had found the charges against her as proven - one step below guilt under Indonesian law, which means they have different guidelines for determining levels of guilt. Now, are their laws absurd? Of course. But keep this in mind as well, the price of pot in Indonesia is much higher than what you could sell it for in Australia, so smuggling becomes a great way to pay for a trip, doesn't it? There is a rather large ex pat community in Bali consisting of Europeans and Australians, many of which smoke pot. They buy pot from other Australians visiting, like Ms. Corby.

But, this smells too much like a Schiavo-like media driven case to me. Take the comments of Australias own Derryn Hinch (granted he's a douchebag) when he said "the only reason people are paying so much attention is because she's young, blonde, attractive and has big tits."

The judge overseeing the case was the same judge passing judgement on the Bali bomber case, in which the suspect was found guilty and put to death. He was seen as being a very fair and evenhanded judge in this case, yet now he's horrible for following their laws properly again?

And let's not try impose our wishes or methods of justice on other countries. We wouldn't want Indonesia coming here and trying to push us around if we held one of their citizens. I would also like to never hear Australians mention how horrible the US is dictating policty other countries and telling them how to govern, when it appears they are doing the same thing at this moment.

I know you'll assume that I side with the verdict and against Tits Mcgee, but that's not the case. I won't assume she's innocent here either, and I think it's rather silly to assume she is just because she's from a civilized country and not a filthy savage.

[chilifoot]

Wait, can anyone here actually prove she's innocent? Or is it a "well she's white she must be innocent, how dare these brown skinned people do this to her?" type of thing?

Not to sound mean or anything, but supposedly she was caught with over 9lbs. of weed. That's a lot, that's something you'd notice. Your luggage doesn't weight hundreds of pounds or any other amount that would keep you from noticing a rather large increase in weight.

I'm not saying she did anything wrong or that she's innocent, but there's a lot about this case that seems odd.
i'm wondering.... who mentioned ANYWHERE in this thread ANYTHING about race? maybe i just missed it.... otherwise... you appear to be the only one who mentioned it.... assuming other people are racist just makes you look like one.... think about it

[Raynoch11]

i'm wondering.... who mentioned ANYWHERE in this thread ANYTHING about race? maybe i just missed it.... otherwise... you appear to be the only one who mentioned it.... assuming other people are racist just makes you look like one.... think about it
Maybe the comment wasn't directed at people here so much as the people in Australia or those who assume innocence without looking into the situation.

and yes, clearly my comments could be viewed as racists towards white people AND indonesians...

[chilifoot]

well... those people aren't here... all i know is that possession of any amount of marijuana should never result in the possibilty of death by firing squad... that shows you what kind of mentality exists in the world... and yes, actually i would rather assume people are INNOCENT until proven guilty... regardless of anything else, i do believe that... whether Bali believes in it makes little difference to me.

[Joga]

I don't think anyone here is assuming she is innocent. I think that I posted this thread because she was not given a fair trial. Whether she was innocent or guilty, her defense team was not allowed to enter an entire sting that proved that drug trafficking was taking place at that airport as evidence. The government refused to hear it. Being that the drug ring had been proven, and prosecuted, and being that her lawyers were not allowed to use that to argue their case, it's not a fair trial.

Secondly, don't you have a hard time believing that someone would put that much marijuana into an unlocked boogie board bag? I mean, come on. If she was trafficking drugs, she would be a lot smarter about it than that, especially with that amount. She had been saving up for the trip for months...yet another point for her. If she was a drug trafficker, she would have the money to pay for it.

The race card is not being played here.

[paygee]

Maybe the comment wasn't directed at people here so much as the people in Australia or those who assume innocence without looking into the situation.

and yes, clearly my comments could be viewed as racists towards white people AND indonesians...
guilty until proven innocent


:paygee2:

[Raynoch11]

I don't think anyone here is assuming she is innocent. I think that I posted this thread because she was not given a fair trial. Whether she was innocent or guilty, her defense team was not allowed to enter an entire sting that proved that drug trafficking was taking place at that airport as evidence. The government refused to hear it. Being that the drug ring had been proven, and prosecuted, and being that her lawyers were not allowed to use that to argue their case, it's not a fair trial.

Secondly, don't you have a hard time believing that someone would put that much marijuana into an unlocked boogie board bag? I mean, come on. If she was trafficking drugs, she would be a lot smarter about it than that, especially with that amount. She had been saving up for the trip for months...yet another point for her. If she was a drug trafficker, she would have the money to pay for it.

The race card is not being played here.I'm not claiming the race card is being played HERE at all, but the possibility (because i've seen it america) that people will assume innocence because she is white and Indonesia is a large muslim nation is always there.

I believe the drug trafficking case concerned cocaine only and even Australian crime experts swear there is no connection based on anything they have seen. To be fair, nothing the defense presented was even put on record (in accordance to Indonesian law) but that the defense team did present a number of things, including the cocaine trafficking. I don't believe the cocaine suspects have gone to trial yet, though I could be wrong.

According to everything I've read (maybe you have something else) indicates she was given nothing but a fair trial according to Indonesian law. Certainly I disagree with their system, but it's their system.

[Raynoch11]

guilty until proven innocent


:paygee2:
She was proven guilty... :sigh:

[paygee]

She was proven guilty... :sigh:
no shit....

[Raynoch11]

no shit....
So is that an admission by you that she's guilty?

[paygee]

no.

just stating the fact that no one is innocent until proven guilty


everyone is always fighting for their innocense

[spinnin'dervish]

this heart breakin'

this is where justice goes down ....and float back up like a turd!

[phi]

Transcript of Schapelle Corby Verdict (http://www.usp.com.au/fpss/news-indonesia95.html#FOUR)

Basically based on that last sentence. The fact that drugs were brought in the country, which was illegal. The drugs were in Corby's bag, leaving her guilty.

[paygee]

horrible


:shame: