Schapelle Corby -- The Innocence Side...

I have written frequently about the plight of Schapelle Corby (image from here). And, I must admit from the outset that I am not convinced the girl is innocent. Nevertheless, there are those very passionate people who are convinced of Schapelle's innocence and they are going all out to prove their case. I admire their passion and conviction and the commitment to the Corby cause.

There are a lot of believers out there in Schapelle Corby's innocence. I list them here and I encourage you to read and get a feel for what the alternatives are to the guilt that was established in a Bali court that saw Schapelle Corby sentenced to 20 years jail.

I have always held that the sentence was too harsh, even by Indonesian standards, but believe that it was harsh because the case was handled so very poorly from the outset.

I remain unconvinced of her innocence, but, that said, it is worth reading what those who support her innocence have to say in order to get n overall understanding of the pros and cons of this case. I would also be interested in becoming involved in an innocence project style project if one was to come together.

Here are the links.

1. The Truth About Aussie Gold;

2. The Corby Case - Part I;

3. The Corby Case - Part II;

4. On My Honour;

5. Free Schapelle;

6. Corby and the Bali Police;

7. Rodent Millenium;

8. Foreign Prisoner Support Service;

9. Free Schapelle.net;

10. Schapelle Corby;

11. The Hidden Truth Report (Very Interesting and Worth the Read);

Schapelle Corby -- Insane...

Schapelle Corby has been diagnosed as "clinically insane." The diagnosis was made by Dr. Jonathon Phillips, the former president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. Dr. Phillips visited Corby in her Bali prison recently to assess her mental state. The assessment was paid for by the New Idea magazine. New Idea claim that they funded the assessment after receiving huge numbers of requests about Corby.

According to Dr. Phillips, Corby is both delusional and paranoid. In lay person's terms she is no longer capable of caring for herself. She is apparently laboring in a world of fantasy and hallucinations, and subject to a mind dominated by some truly bizarre ideas.

Corby's state of mind has deteriorated so much that she has tried to commit suicide, at least, twice. The attempts allegedly involve Corby cutting herself pretty severely. This has lead Dr. Phillips to state that if Corby is faking her illness, then she is a master actor.

The Corby family has sent the results of the evaluation to the Australian Prime Minister and seem set to lobby hard to have Australia make an approach to their Indonesian counterparts with a view to having Corby transferred to a secure facility in Australia. As far as I recall the prisoner transfer agreement between Australia and Indonesia has stalled on a few key points. So, it would seem unlikely that this is going to be a prisoner exchange deal, at least not through a prisoner exchange treaty.

It seems that any claim would be more likely to succeed on compassionate grounds. Simply, make this a humanitarian issue by making an appeal to the humanity of Indonesians. I am not sure that this is a win / win situation. And, even if Indonesia was inclined to release Corby on compassionate grounds, they would be certain to insist on some strict conditions. I would hazard a guess that these would include provisions that would not see Corby immediately released on her return to Australia.

The saga continues.

Postscript...

I have been lead to an article published in The Australian on 29 August 2009.

In essence the article says that Schapelle's psychiatrist in Bali, Dr. Denny Thong, in essence agrees with Dr. Jonathon Phillips that Schapelle has a mental illness. However, according to Dr. Thong, the mental illness is not insanity but depression and bouts of audio and visual hallucinations. Dr. Thong believes that Schapelle can be treated, and is being treated, but he is unsure as to whether Schapelle is taking her medication.

Dr. Thong does not believe this to be a life and death situation. To the contrary, the Dr. recommends that Schapelle be moved to the Bangli Mental Hospital where she can be treated, and then when well enough she can be returned to prison to complete her sentence.

This is the link to the article.

Schapelle Corby -- Remissions and Mental Health...

The latest in the Schapelle Corby saga has seen her climb a water tower near her cell block in an attempt to escape the prying eyes of her fellow inmates. Corby's mental woes have been well documented, as have her annual trips to the hospital in an effort to get her mental health issues sorted out. However, this latest drama suggests that things are getting worse rather than better.

Her family even suggest as much. Mercedes has said that Schapelle is seeing a psychiatrist and still taking medication. This is not so bad, but then Mercedes goes on to say that every day is difficult and that Schapelle does not look good.

It is hard to know whether to feel sorry for Schapelle. The sympathy or empathy debate really hinges a lot on whether you believe that she is guilty of the crime for which she has been convicted. If you do believe she is guilty, then it is likely you are in a camp which says, "if you do the crime, you do the time", and in any event, "prison is not supposed to be summer camp or a picnic". You might though also be in the camp that thinks she is guilty, but that 20 years for smuggling 4 kilos of wacky weed was too severe a sentence.

I think that I am in the latter camp.

There is some good news on the horizon for Schapelle, and I guess that good news is relative. It appears that prison authorities are recommending that she be granted a 4-month remission as part of the Indonesian Independence Day celebrations. It might seem much but one needs to be thankful for small mercies. Over time, these remissions build up and can end up knocking years of your original sentence.

I tend to feel if Schapelle can keep a low profile over the next couple of years, preferably with little or no publicity, then an Australian government approach to their Indonesian colleagues with respect to an early release for Schapelle might be viewed favourably. It might require an admission of guilt if it is to be in the form of a pardon. This might be preferable to Schapelle spending any more time in jail than is absolutely necessary. In her fragile mental state perhaps now is not the time to be standing on principle but rather working to get her home.

Schapelle Corby -- A New Investigation?

The latest series of allegations to be doing the rounds suggests that perhaps a further investigation is warranted. Mercedes Corby and the extended Corby family seem to be demanding a further investigation, simply as a means of clearing her family's name, once and for all.

This is in spite of Queensland Police saying that they are not doing one as there is insufficient evidence, at least for now, to warrant one. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) on the other hand are making no comment, make of that what you will.

There were some inherent problems in the court case that led to Schapelle Corby's original conviction. These problems relate to matters such as the testing of the actual drugs and whether or not their exact origin could have been determined through laboratory testing. The other major problem was finger print analysis of the bag in which the drugs were contained. To this end finger print evidence might only show that Schapelle Corby did not handle the sealed plastic bag that contained the drugs. In this case no finger prints is hardly evidence of innocence as the wearing of gloves would rule out the presence of fingerprints.

Nevertheless, as I have written previously, where there is this much smoke there is an increased likelihood of discovering fire. The question is whether or not a further investigation and the expenses involved are warranted. Malcolm McCauley, the man behind the latest allegations, has just been released from prison and Michael Corby Sr is dead, so unless McCauley is going to divulge all of the players involved in this little drug trafficking scheme, then the value of any investigation seems to be limited.

There are also issues of whether an investigation will clear the Corby's names of any involvement or only muddy the waters even further and even if the investigation turns up nothing and seemingly clears the Corby's of the McCauley allegations, how and what would the impact be on Schapelle Corby's situation as a convicted drug trafficker sitting in an Indonesian prison on the resort island of Bali?

This is a sad tale for the Corby family for sure but it is riveting reading for many others, me included! Although I am more interested in the legal angles and the avenues of review if and when certain things come to light.

As always, the saga continues.

The Corby Saga

If these things were not really happening it would be one hell of an imagination that the person who wrote this story has. The Corby saga is becoming increasingly complex in the public sphere. It was probably always complex in the private sphere of the Corby world. But it is as much a case of hangers on and bit part extended family members looking for their 15 minutes of fame. In that way it is like a car crash that people just have to slow down and take a peak at before moving on.

It is interesting to think that Indonesia might want to investigate these claims about Michael Corby Sr any further, particularly in light of the fact the Queensland police have issued a statement saying that the informant on which the Lateline report relied on has not provided any information that would lead to the police being able to take further action. In fact the police were a little more forthright and stated that they have no evidence linking Michael Corby Sr to drugs or the drug trade.

By all accounts Michael Corby Sr was too lazy to be a drug runner and much preferred to have a beer with the fellas down the pub or sit on the couch at home in front of the TV also having a few beers. This characterization may well be true. It is hardly evidence that the bloke was not a drug smuggler or dealer. Rosleigh Rose, the ex-wife of Michael Corby Sr, went so far as to say that it was his beard that made him look bad. Perhaps bearded people are drug dealers and smugglers.

Anyway, this is another twist to a tale that is sure to have a few more yet.

Keep watching this space.

Mercedes Corby Denies Allegations

Mercedes Corby has denied the allegations that were aired on the ABC were lies and that she and her family can prove this. The Queensland Police have apparently issued a statement that they have no evidence linking Michael Corby Sr to the drug trafficking trade.

Mercedes Corby has recently won a defamation pay out against Channel 7 for an interview that they ran with Jody Powers where Powers alleged that Mercedes was involved in drug trafficking.

If Mercedes Corby and her family are sure that they can prove that Michael Corby Sr was never involved and that he has a clean police record, then this is another defamation case that might be worth pursuing. However, it seems that the Corby's are only asking for an apology.

The story continues.

The ACA Photo...

Gotta say now that I have seen the photo, I do not see the resemblance! The 'Mercedes' in this photo does not look like the real Mercedes and the 'Schapelle' in this photo looks nothing like the recent legitimate photos that I have seen of Schapelle. The primary differences I can see are hair length and body shape.

I must admit I have never met Schapelle in person.

Perhaps I should have done this research before I made the original post and been more critical of A Current Affair and Channel Nine in manipulating this for ratings.

Nevertheless, the points I made about prisoner transfers and Indonesian prisons remain valid.

Thanks to all those that commented on the original posts on this topic!

Cheers!

A Further Schapelle Corby Update

It seems ninemsn.com and Channel Nine have been a part of a deception in relation to the recent allegations that Schapelle Corby was seen out of jail. Having followed up on the reports and having received some anonymous criticism for the "tripe" that I posted regarding this, I am taking this opportunity to put some other facts on the record.

The photo that I copied and pasted from the ninemsn.com site is indeed a photo of Schapelle Corby but it is NOT the photo that was shown on A Current Affair or to Schapelle's mother. However, in my own defence the points that I made I believe remain valid, namely: that Australian prisoners may need to think long and hard about whether they take advantage of any prisoner transfer system put in place. Like the buyer of anything the Australian prisoners in Indonesian jails will need to read the fine print.

The following was issued in response to the ACA program.

Kay Danes / Foreign Prisoner Support Service release.

Attention: Media Watch

Re: ACA [Ch9] victimisation of Schapelle Corby

As you know, Schapelle Corby is a prisoner in Kerobokan Prison. Recently I tuned into the Australian television "A Current Affairs Program" on Monday evening 3 March 2008. I could not believe that they had compiled an elaborate story to mislead the Australian public. Airing photo's of tourists who resembled Schapelle and her sister Mercedes and alluding that they were in fact, Schapelle and her sister, enjoying a night on the town - unsupervised by prison police.It was devastating the way ACA compiled the story but more disturbing was the fact that they refused to show the said photographs to Schapelle's distraught mother unless she agreed to view the photo's on air. Then they had the audacity to ask her how she could be so convinced that the photo's were not actual photo's of her daughters. Rosleigh Corby has just lost her former husband to cancer and at the time the photo's were taken, his funeral was underway and Mercedes had flown back to Australia to attend.I am of the understanding that the girls who took these photographs were attempting to sell them to the Australian media, although I personally cannot verify that. In any case, I strongly believe that Schapelle's current legal case will suffer as a result of the ACA program and that is more than just unfortunate, it is in my opinion, highly concerning.Foreign Prisoner Support Service is lodging a formal complaint to the Australian Attorney General's Office in relation to the continued victimisation of Australian detainee Schapelle Corby.Prisoners are not, and should not, be put at risk simply to increase ratings or to sell more newspapers. The story was nothing more than sensational rubbish based on hearsay from people who don't even know Schapelle Corby, have never met her or her family!

The moral of this story is do not always believe what you first read or hear no matter what the source. The points made by Kay Danes are important and worth noting!