Maybe it is time to spin off the posts that I have done on Schapelle Corby and her case into a blog of its own. I am intent on The RAB Experience remaining a blog on a wide and varied subject matter. However, I received this email earlier today. My visitor statistics are showing that there are lots of people passing through looking for information on Schapelle Corby and her plight.
If you feel strongly enough about wanting to help then perhaps you could start with copying and pasting the letter included on the previous post about letters to the PM of Australia, which you can find here. I have not heard of the World Wide Chain of Compassion before (but it turns up about 515 hits on a Google search).
From The World Wide Chain of Compassion
Regardless of how you, the reader of this email, currently feel about her
innocence or guilt, I ask you, please, to show compassion for Schapelle
Corby.
Jailed for 20 years, she has maintained her innocence to the crime and now,
after 5 years, has been reduced to a severe state of mental illness.
A report from eminent psychiatrist Dr Jonathon Phillips, who has just been
to Bali to assess Corby's mental condition, has been sent to the Australian
Government. It paints a shocking picture of Schapelle's state of mind. This
once fun loving, clean living young woman, has been reduced to a state of
mental illness with severe psychosis, hallucinations and suicidal
tendencies. She has already cut her arms with broken glass in an attempt to
end her life.
I believe this action was a desperate and final cry for help. Next time she
could go all the way and die in a pool of blood, somewhere in the squalor of
her prison hell.
In 2006, Schapelle wrote this:
"Right now I'm empty, lost and numb. I used to have a clear fresh sparkle
radiating within, showing through my laugh and my eyes. I never had a
problem looking in the mirror, I knew who I was, I didn't question myself.
Lately now, two years on from that fatal date and after repeated blows, I'm
finding a confusing, distant reflection in the mirror; it's dull, my eyes
don't seem to speak anymore, they're lifeless as though my soul is drying
up. Where have I gone, where am I going?"
In a letter to supporters she once said:
"Courage doesn't always roar, sometimes it's just a little voice at the end
of the day that says, 'I'll try again tomorrow'."
How many more tomorrows does Schapelle have? How much longer can she last
before she finally succumbs to the voices in her head saying, "enough is
enough?"
Is it now time for us all to say, "enough is enough?" She has suffered
enough! It's time for compassion.
10 comments:
Rob,
Thanks for posting this letter. It is travelling around the world as people send it on to each other. The appeal is to people from all walks of life in the hope that they will say 'enougn is enough' and help bring this unfortunate girl home to Australia.
Neville...
No dramas. Hope it attracts some attention.
What kind of attention do you hope it attracts, Rob Baiton?
Four years ago, you and all of your fellow expats supported Ms Corby's sham trial and crushing sentence. You found there were no shortcomings with the prosecution - even though they presented no irrefutable evidence to prove Schapelle Corby is guilty. All they had was the marijuana in her bag and the disputed testimony of customs and police officers - all hearsay because their claims were never tested.
Four years ago you joined the mob who criticized her defence team for their media circus strategy but conveniently omitted the simple fact that ALL the defence evidence was refused! Most crucially: forensic testing to determine the origin of the marijuana.
When Ms Corby needed people like you the most, you casually flicked her away like a bug and you helped to create the prevailing attitude among 'intelligent' people that she is unworthy of further consideration.
So now you want to help by attaching a link to your hobby blog which incurs no cost and no effort for you? What a generous humanitarian you are.
Let's see if your noble gesture can help the unforgiven.
Sam...
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. Comments are always appreciated, even when they are critical.
I hope that it attracts some attention, any attention would be better than none at all. It got your attention, didn't it?
Pretty big call and generalization on your part about expats. Perhaps your passion for the cause has blinded you to the generalization.
No, Sam, we did not casually flick her away like a bug to rot in hell.
However, I am not going to engage you in a debate as to who has done more, or who has done what, when they did it and how much reward / recognition they deserve for their efforts. It serves no purpose and does not contribute to the release and repatriation of Schapelle Corby to Australia.
So, you want to call me out with "what a generous humanitarian you are" knock yourself out.
I do wonder whether you are really a Corby supporter or just someone out to undermine efforts of any and all latecomers to the cause? I really do not see how alienating potential supporters of the cause as poor excuses for human beings because they did not come on board at day one or, heaven forbid, have a different interpretation of how events unfolded to you.
To each their own.
I guess it would be better for me to take my hobby blog and ungenerous and disingenuous humanitarian spirit and focus on other things.
Sam you are probably doing more harm to the cause than good if it is your hobby to blog walk and leave comments such as this one.
But once again, to each their own.
Just to go against the general tide of comments (who me?) Of the hundreds of thousands of people in Indonesia who could do with a chain of compassion, Corby would rank fairly low down the list. She made some poor choices and now is paying a very high and perhaps unreasonable price for those choices but she never the less had choices which so many here don't. I can't help but wonder if she had been a balding, fat guy in his fifties how much attention she would be getting.
Stump...
I was wondering what took you so long to pipe up and go against the flow.
If there was such a list, then I would agree that depending on who you ask there could be a few people above her. Nevertheless, she would be on the list.
My personal opinion is that she does not deserve to die in prison for the crime she has been convicted of committing. Death is a distinct possibility in the mental state she is in according to Dr. Jonathon Phillips.
But that's just me. Those that believe she is innocent still feel the need to tell me that I lack a humanitarian trait, i do not understand, I do not get it. I am just waiting for the "are you really Australian?" question.
I once got the once over from Hotman Paris about whether or not I was a real Australian because how could I claim to be an Australian but think Corby to be guilty.
Here we go again! Schapelle Corby doesn't deserve any attention because there are others who also deserve attention?
Gosh, Oigal don't let it stop you from helping those others. You go right ahead, if you really want to. But in order to do that you will have to ignore your own strange logic! You could begin with Munir's widow and family. They are also seeking justice. But hang on a bit. By your logic they cannot be helped because there are others out there who deserve compassion or justice. Gee, I guess that means we help no one.
So Schapelle Corby 'made choices' you say? My previous comments explained clearly that the trial was not conducted fairly. If you were an honest or clear-thinking person you would acknowledge there is no motive for smuggling marijuana into Indonesia and to this day there is no proof that it came from Australia.
And once again the old chestnut is thrown into the fire: If Schapelle was unattractive she wouldn't have received any attention from - who, me? Well I guess you've shot me down in flames. I'm not interested in seeing justice done ... I'm just a redneck White Supremacist, right? Well then Oigal, if that's what you need to believe then go right ahead.
And Rob, if I have angered you I apologise. If you're just having a good ol' laugh at my expense then go right ahead. If you are indeed a latecomer to this cause then I congratulate you on your good sense and compassion.
Sam...
Not angered. I just do not see the point of making the generalizations that were made. I think it detracts from the valid points Schapelle's supporters make. I also think it alienates a group of potential supporters.
There are plenty of people who could use a bit of compassion. I would think that Suciwati wants the truth and justice.
So, in this regard perhaps there are some similarities as my understanding is that Schapelle's supporters would also like to see the truth revealed and justice done.
Rob.
Any reason why she can't serve her time in an Australian jail?
J...
Probably not with a little bit of creative diplomacy from both sides.
The "problem" so to speak is that there is no prisoner transfer agreement in place between Australia and Indonesia. However, it is worth noting that the exchange of prisoners is not solely dependent on a PTA.
A little bit of quiet diplomacy could do the trick. Generally, though this has not been the case for convicted drug traffickers. The cases where it has happened have been similar to the instances of the two American journalists caught in North Korea and that bloke who decided to swim over to Ang Sung Suu Kyi's place in Burma.
However, I am guessing that Schapelle's supporters, who I now know read my blog, may have instances where drug traffickers have been the recipients of some successful quiet diplomacy.
I am sure that they will also point out that she is not guilty and therefore these are special circumstances.
I agree that there are special circumstances here. Schapelle Corby has been doing it tough and an eminent shrink has said she is to all intents and purposes insane and that in his professional opinion she is not faking it. I agree with him. I do not think she is faking it. There have also been instances, two I recall, where Schapelle has harmed herself (apparently attempted suicide).
This is why there is a movement for compassion. I think that she probably could use a little compassion right now. I also think that 20 years for the wacky weed, even 4kgs+ is too harsh. So, if jail is supposed to teach a lesson, then I think this is a lesson learned.
I think she should come home, be placed in a secure facility, and get the necessary treatment. Her supporters will argue she is innocent and therefore she should come home a free woman.
I have posted elsewhere that the free woman angle is not going to have any legs without some kind of admission of guilt. Particularly as any release would seemingly require the president to issue a pardon or clemency.
That said, I am not so sure the Indonesians want her to die in one of their prisons. Then again, if it is all about teaching lessons then what better way to teach a lesson than make an example; you traffic drugs and get caught then this is what happens.
As I said, this idea of getting her home might go smoother with an admission of guilt. I am not sure that an admission of guilt is possible. The girl has steadfastly maintained her innocence until this point, and I am not sure that she would have the mental capacity now to make any admissions on anything if Dr. Phillips assessment of her mental state is correct.
Sorry for the long answer, gotta cover all the bases.
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