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.
11 comments:
Are you doing what the media did to Lindy C by posting pictures taken at some other time and situation but which will now add relevance to the message of your post/news??
Naughty if you are!!
This whole PTA business is a joke. Just look at the recent cases of the American journalists in N. Korea, or the American in Myanmar, or the Bulgarian nurses on death row in Libya. All released Do you think that there was any PTA agreements in those cases? This is just a lame excuse for Australia to avoid the situation. Even if Schapelle isn't released and is only transferred to an Aussie prison, she'll at least get better treatment there. She's got other prisoners dispensing her meds for god's sake!!!
Rob
I suppose that these prisoner exchange deals would imply that there are Indonesian prisoners in Aus that would actually prefer to do their sentence in an Indonesian prison. Not sure how Kerobokan ranks as a place to do your time compared to Aussie jails - from the outside it doesn't look so nice.
I wonder if there is an international prison rating system?
Lawbee...
No.
But the photo reflects, at least, in my humble opinion what is now the reason for her insanity; being behind bars and knowing that she is there for at least another 14 years.
Anonymous...
I always prefer that my anonymous commenters adopt a pen name so that I can distinguish one from the other.
Yes and no. I would agree that a PTA does not need to be in place in order for Corby to be released. Is it lame, yes it is.
Yes, she would probably get better treatment in an Australian prison. She would probably, if on return she is certified insane, be placed in a secure psych facility.
Yes, other prisoners are dispensing her meds, including, allegedly, Renae Lawrence.
However, she did commit the crime in Indonesia and it is pretty clear that in the vast majority of cases the Australian government will let you serve your sentence in the country where you are sentenced. The only time of recent note where the Australian government has lobbied for a degree of clemency is in death penalty cases. However, that is not to see the accused / convicted sent home to Australia, but rather just to ensure that the death sentence is not imposed or carried out.
PJ...
There are Indonesian prisoners in Australian jails. I am not sure that they would want to go back to an Indonesian prison. However, they would be closer to their families and relatives.
I believe there has been comparisons done. I am not sure that it is a rating system though.
you might be surprised to learn just how many Indonesians are in Australian prisons!!
Lawbee...
I have an idea. But, do tell or provide a link where this information can be shared around.
Maybe it is something that the Indonesian and Australian press can pick up on as they talk up a deal.
I just heard about an Indonesian engineer working for a multinational who was busted in Perth with (child) porn. Went inside and so reporteth thus to me.
He lost his job as well. How the hell do they tell how old a digital gal is??
Btw his lawyer suggested he confess.
He'd just spent several months in Middle east and one of his names was Mohomad..
Lawbee...
A link would be good.
Generally, the law is worded to say as long as it looks like it is, then it is. But, I would have to read the WA law to be sure. Unless it was under a Commonwealth law.
His name is irrelevant, don't you think?
NO. I will maintain that surveys such as this are hardly fair surveys. This would be discussion point in itself.
Anna Bligh wants her home - good enough for me!!
ill see if i can find details of the laptop case for you; but if he confessed it may not have been reported??
Konsulat RI dan Panitia Pemilihan Luar Negeri (PPLN) Perth tidak melupakan hak politik sedikitnya 20 orang narapidana Indonesia yang kini ditahan di Penjara Hakea, Australia Barat, dalam Pemilihan Presiden (Pilpres) Rabu, kata Pejabat Konsul RI Perth, Andi Ahmad Bastari.
for example July 2009
Lawbee...
I did not say that it was fair. I do not believe that it is even scientific in that sense. It is what it is; an open and public survey that may or may not be representative of Australians views on the question posed.
Mate, links make it so much easier.
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