[dipper]

For those who don't know about Schapelle her is the story


Schapelle Corby - Urgent Australian Announcement - Save Schapelle From An Indonesian Firing Squad
By Gabrielle Reilly

Schapelle Corby: Schapelle Corby, a 27-year-old Australian, faces a maximum punishment of death by firing squad after 4.1 kg of cannabis were found inside her unlocked bodyboard bag at Bali airport last October. Schapelle is believed to have been an innocent victim in an Australian domestic drug smuggling racket between Sydney and Brisbane. The criminals however, did not remove the drugs in Brisbane according to the plan and Schapelle, unbeknown to her, arrived in Bali with drugs that had been planted in her bag along the way.

Schapelle Corby is due to have a verdict in mid-May. If found guilty in Indonesia of drug trafficking, she will most likely face the Indonesian firing squad a short time afterwards.

According to The Age "Corby's lawyers revealed an unidentified man had come forward and signed a statement naming three baggage handlers he says planted the drugs in Corby's unlocked boogie board bag.

Chief lawyer Lely Sri Rahaya Lubis said the three baggage handlers had since been jailed in Australia, while the man who made the statement was also in prison.

<excerpt>

But Lely admitted it would be difficult to bring the man to Bali to testify, as he was a prisoner in Australia."

If the drugs were deliberately taken into Bali, the financial return would have only been a fraction of Sydney's street value of approximately $60, 000 where the drugs originated. Schapelle was in the wrong place at the wrong time which could happen to any of our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters or Mothers and Fathers.

Meanwhile in Indonesia, the Bali bomber mastermind gets his sentence reduced to just years for killing a few hundred people.

Personally i think that she should rot
but she probably hasn't done anything nd she will be shot or rot in jail for the reat of her life.


schapelle corby's website

[Lovefist]

Well, regardless if she's guilty or not, death for smuggling marijuana is VERY severe. Those people probably think pot kills you still.

[corridon]

Bali has very strong lawsa gainst both porn and drugs.

Anyway about whether she's guilty or not.

I say no because why would she smuggle them to Indonesia to sell them when she can sell them in Australia, get more money for them and not get as tougher penalty?

I rekcon her Dad did it, he is the one that packed the bag and he seems like a dickhead to me. And when asked if Schapelle ever did drugs he said "Yeah I'm sure she had cigarettes when she was young". IN other words I guess he's trying to build her up as a druggy who started young and went onto more powerful drugs as she got older.

[latino heat]

To be honest she's screwed. She was caught with 4 kilo of ectasy ( i think ) and the Indonesians want to prove to the world that if you have drugs you are screwed so they will give Corby a big sentence eg Death.

Breaking News That guy that was in jail in Aus that went to Indo to defend Corby has been stabbed in jail.

Breaking News You know those nine guys that were busted with drugs in Indonesia well due to some good Police work there have been 4 more arrests.

More Details when I know them

[RangaKoo]

For crying out loud Latino Heat, at least read the entire post before you reply!! Then you might have seen right there in the first paragraph that marjuana was found in her bags.

Also, the prosecution has recommended that Corby be sentenced to life imprisonment (which implies it is unlikely she will be acquitted, apparently the death recommendation would have been good news). The judges can still go for a harsher penalty if they wish.

As for Lovefist's comment that death was a harsh penalty for smuggling drugs, it's certainly the best way to deter it.

I honestly don't know. However the incident with the camel suit on the runway * has to raise some questions.

As for The Bali Nine, I have no sympathy for them (unless it turns out that they really were being blackmailed into doing it, then I'll have some sympathy). After they were arrested two of them claimed that they didn't know Indonesia had the death penalty for smuggling drugs. Where the hell have the been for the last 6 months, living under a rock?


* For those who didn't hear: About a month ago a man had checked his luggage and was watching (either from the plane or inside the terminal) the baggage handlers load his plane when he noticed one of them wearing the camel suit/costume from his suit case. I believe the handler was either sacked or suspended.

This post has been edited by RangaKoo: 06 May 2005 - 02:33 PM

[LuigiBrotha]

The death penalty is way to harsh. In my oppinion they shouldn't use only in rare cases. Like murderers and rapists. The death penalty costs a lot. In Florida it costs half a million to give someone the death penalty. It is way cheaper to let them rot away in a cell.

But back on topic : Give her life in prison and then they can still search for further clues to the real deal behind the drugs transport.

[corridon]

If she is given life in prison then she will probably kill herself because the condiitons in there are so bad.

[Delphi1618]

Yeah, not the greatest prison systems in there :ermm: . I still think the death penalty is way harsh.

[tvjr]

Schappelle Corby won't be released because there has been so much speculation over it. I believe she'll either get shot or get life imprisonment.

As for the bali 9, I see no future for them. To me they look like dumbass retarded people from listening to them on the news, and they haven't got a good education.

[I-275westcoastflorida]

Ooo smuggling drugs what happened to the real crimes? <_<
Yes the death penalty is too much and for these kinda polls u must add an i dont care option.

This post has been edited by I-275westcoastflorida: 07 May 2005 - 05:05 AM

[Clancy]

I-275westcoastflorida, on May 7 2005, 03:04 PM, said:

Ooo smuggling drugs what happened to the real crimes? <_<
Yes the death penalty is too much and for these kinda polls u must add an i dont care option.

That's the issue here.

We have terrorists who orchestrated the Bali bombings, getting off on technicalities, and the ring leader gets only the 3 years.

Then we have a possibly innocent girl who, is facing life behind bars. (She isn't getting the death penalty, it hasn't been sought for)

Also if you don't care, then quietly fuck off.

This post has been edited by Clancy: 08 May 2005 - 04:28 AM

[RangaKoo]

The prosecuors aren't recommending the death penalty but the judges can still sentence it if they so wish.

People are saying that the death penalty is too harsh for drug trafficking, but when problems get as rife as this then drastic action is often necessary. The Indonesian governemnt isn't hoping to kill as many drug traffickers as they can, they hoping to deter people from trafficking. It's not all that different to the logic behind nuclear weapons (see other thread).

For example, take Singapore. They punish littering with corporal punishment (the cane etc) and as a result their city is pristine. When my parents were there last month they had a competition to see who could spot any litter, neither of them did.

If the punishment far outweighs the crime, then people will think twice.... or demand more danger money.

[I-275westcoastflorida]

Clancy, on May 8 2005, 04:27 AM, said:

I-275westcoastflorida, on May 7 2005, 03:04 PM, said:

Ooo smuggling drugs what happened to the real crimes? <_<
Yes the death penalty is too much and for these kinda polls u must add an i dont care option.

That's the issue here.

We have terrorists who orchestrated the Bali bombings, getting off on technicalities, and the ring leader gets only the 3 years.

Then we have a possibly innocent girl who, is facing life behind bars. (She isn't getting the death penalty, it hasn't been sought for)

Also if you don't care, then quietly fuck off.

Well i meant that Drug Dealers are arrested every freakin day and i think its stupid to get life for it.

[dipper]

Yer but as corridon said earlier bali has a huge drug problem you can basically go anywhere in bali and get drugs especially marijuana it is as easy as get in milk from a shop.

so the government is trying to crack dow on the drugs and they are being harsh to teach others not to try it.

i also think the judges will find her guilty becuse it will be see as a victory for them to get a bigg bust and see the perpertrator go to jail for life.

[corridon]

THought I'd bump this topic.

The verdict is today and I am on the live bog hosted here.

11.09am - The Bali courthouse is starting to fill with people. The familiar vinyl chairs are in place, and there's an amazing amount of media in place.

The judge has had over 500 cases and has never deemed anyone not guilty so the odds aren't in her favour.

The Balinese think that if there is a prisoner exchange program that they will get their fishermen back. These fishermen drifted into Austrlian waters and were detained.

I'll keep you updated.

EDIT: 11.11am - And here's Schapelle. She's dressed in a a black blouse shirt with her hair tied back, smiling at members of the court. Her parents, Ros and Michael, are sitting behind her in the very packed and busy public gallery.

EDIT: TImeline update:
1.23pm - A short time ago, Corby's Australian lawyer said if she was found guilty, an appeal would be filed today. We asked Dr Findlay what he thought her chances were of winning that appeal.

"To win they would need either to show that the trial judges made a fundamental mistake in law, or ignored a crucial piece of the defence case," Dr Findlay said.

"If this can't be established then the appeal is likely to fail."

1.21pm - The damage these drugs do to the Indonesian population is massive, the judge says. Corby is talking under her breath. She might be praying, we don't know. Tension is obviously building in the courtroom. The prosecution has made a very strong case.

1.20pm - Corby's saying something, she's very upset. The judge is talking about the dangers of drugs to the Indonesian people. We're execting the actual verdict now very soon apparently. Corby is visibly distressed.

1.19pm - Professor Lindsay says there was a widespread assumption that Corby must be innocent and many people had made that assumption based on photos and their own gut feelings.

"But whatever people may think, it is the court that decides and it decides only on the basis of evidence.

"With sort of hysteria, it means that if the outcome of the court is not what people want it to be that the court must be at fault. I don't think that necessarily follows."

1.17pm - The judge's findings, in Indonesian, sound harsh and unforgiving, but he's only recounting the evidence. The stress Corby's under must be immense. The judge is basically shouting at her now.

1.16pm - Corby's crying. It's atarting to get too much for her. Her chin is quivering but her eyes say it all.

1.15pm - Corby listens passively while the judge recounts evidence detailing Corby's reaction to the drugs discovery. He's reading his verdict out very, very quickly.

1.13pm - The courtroom's suddenly got a lot more noisy. The judge is paying close attention to testimony from the customs official who discovered the bag. His testimony was corroborated by a collegaue he says, but becuase there's no videotape of this it's their word against Corby's.

He's reiterated that drugs are a danger to the Indonesian people.

1.10pm - Looks like the facts are finished now. They're finally reading out the charges. We're nearing the verdict.

1.04pm - We've switched the audio to Channel 9 right now ... the live feed from the courtroom has been consumed by static. The courtroom is looking flat ... staff appear tired, the judges are sitting back, Corby is staring at the ground. Her mum, Ros, is resting her head on a shoulder as others fan themselves in the humidity.

12.59pm - Just so you know, this blog is being updated every two to three minutes. You'll need to refresh for the latest page entry, but please space these out to every 10 minutes since our servers are being totally bombarded. We're keeping you totally up to date here, even if it's a little slow getting it out!

A blog, for readers unfamiliar with the form, is a first-person web diary or 'web log.' Thanks for your feedback and comments so far, and we're really sorry you're having trouble getting through.

12.57pm - We've still not got any audio from the courtroom, obviously there are some real technical issues at hand. Since proceedings were brought forward we weren't able to carry out as many tests. Judge Dauh has taken over proceedings now. He speaks with a strong voice and a sense of urgency.

12.54pm - Corby is listening to the testimony intently. Every now and then she looks down, her mouth flat, cheeks drawn in. Her eyes look tired. She's perfectly coiffed, as we've always seen her. She's taking all of this with a real sense of courage.

12.51pm - We're now interviewing defence lawyer Robin Tampoe, who you can hear on the stream. We seem to have lost our feed from the courtroom at the moment, but we should have this back to you shortly. As you can imagine, the amount of media outside the courtroom and in Denpasar are placing real strains on local infrastructure.

12.48pm - Corby witness John Ford is under fire again. Darn, there goes the audio link. We're working on it viewers.

12.47pm - Tim Lindsay, Professor of Asian Law at Melbourne University, says it is hard to explain why Schapelle Corby's case has recieved so much attention in the Australian media.

"Australians of Asian ethnicity have faced charges, for example in Vietnam, and they haven't received this sort of attention."

"She may be innocent, she may be guilty, but in this case the evidence that we've seen is not particularly strong in favour of her innocence."

12.45pm - The judges reading becomes more determined. Judge Suastrawan is not as softly spoken as Chief Judge Linton Strait. He's warning Corby about penalties for false witnesses, and referring to Victorian prisoner John Ford, along with the customs officers.

12.42pm - We're joined now by Dr Findlay, from the University of Sydney. He says a prima facie case is established, if, on the face of it the prosecution has done enough to satisfy the charge. This could be simply that, without conflicting evidence of a mistake on her part, the drugs were found in her bag and that is all that matters.

12.37pm - No wonder we've heard so much about this verdict. The judges, between them, have written down everything in the trial. They've certainly listened intently.

12.32pm - The judges note that Corby's had nothing to do with drugs in Australia. They note that she came to Bali to visit her family. For those asking, we were originally expecting the verdict to be handed down at 3pm AEST, but proceedings have been brought forward, so we don't know when this will be done now. Of course, we'll let you know as soon as we do.

12.30pm - They're still reading out legal technicalities, the facts of the case. They're talking about check-in counters in Brisbane, the way Corby would have no idea what happened to her bag after she checked it in, and the fact her body board bag was never weighed. Looks like the judges have accepted this as fact. This bodes well for Corby. "She didn't know who got into the bag after she dropped it off in Brisbane," the judge says.

12.26pm - We've had to change translators. Corby's translator has been forced to remove her microphone, so you'll hear a different voice on the stream now.

12.24pm - The most startling thing about this courtroom is how cold it seems. Beige walls, no curtains, a cold hard floor. One startling aspect is that every window, from the top to the bottom, has cameras in it. It's like one of those 60s-era photos where frat boys have tried to pile as many people as they can into a phone booth. It's intense.

12.19pm - Oops ... the translator's just played with her microphone and sent out a big bit of static ... Angela, our transcript typist is rubbing her ears from the shock. We'll have a link up for that once we have enough material available.

If you're having issues refreshing the site at the moment please be patient, we're being bombarded with traffic.

12.15pm - Judge Wayan Suastrawan has taken over reading the verdict.

12.14pm - Looking at some of the other feeds we're getting here, we can see that the courtroom's keeping pretty settled and quiet. Signs have been banned and the judges have even imposed a dress code. There's people fanning themselves, many are dressed in bright colours and there are many arms and around Corby's mum, Ros, in particular. She's got plenty of support here today for what has to be one of the toughest days of her life.

12.10pm - Corby is very composed in court. Outside, reporter Mark Burrows was speaking to her doctor, who remarked that Schapelle had chosen not to be sedated at all today. She wants to face her future as clean-headed as she's always said she's been.

12.05pm - Okay, we've got our streaming audio up. Click on the link above to hear what Schapelle's hearing as it comes in straight to our satellite dish. We're limited to only 12,000 streams, so it's first come first served.

12.04pm - It's hard to gauge the general mood at this stage. Our camera angle is pretty tightly centred on Corby and the verdict at this stage is bogged down in technicalities. The facts of the case are still being read out, and a lot of non-contested territory, like the quantity of drugs and the fact they're illegal, are being discussed. The judges are reading at a steady pace. They look more weary than angry.

12.02pm - They're talking now about the process of customs inspection and the importation of drugs. Throughout all of this we're going to be bombarded with a lot of legal terms and legislation. This has to be done to ensure Corby receives due process.

11.58am - The English translation you can hear on Channel 9 now is the same one Corby is hearing. We'll have it online as soon as possible, so you'll be able to hear exactly what Corby's hearing in a few moments. She's staring straight ahead. Who knows what she's thinking?

11.55am - Everyone in the courtroom looks tired while the judges, reading their verdict, soldier on. Now they're outlining police tests conducted on the cannabis.

11.53am - The judges officially identify Schapelle Leigh Corby in the trial. It may seem pointless and legalistic to us here, but imagine being Corby in this instance, hearing these charges then hearing your name linked to them on a day where you're facing life imprisonment. She's facing incredible strain.

11.51am - There's a very strong police presence in the court. The judges are still reading out the facts of the case, the finding of the drugs, the transparent bag, the weight. Corby's listening, but seems a little spaced out. Her face is expressionless. The translator is struggling to keep up.

11.49am - Just so you know we've been having some issues with streaming audio here. When they're ironed out I'll add a link to the box on the left above this so you can hear what's happening in the courtroom live, with an English translation.

11.47am - He adds: "The judges have tolerated [the chaos] in the courtroom until now. But they have become less and less comfortable with it as it has gone on."

11.46am - We'll be joined in this blog by two experts in Indonesian law: Dr Mark Findlay, from the Institute of Criminology at Sydney University, and Professor Tim Lindsay, from the University of Melbourne.

Dr Findlay predicted earlier today that the Indonesians would try and get the judgement proceedings in court over as soon as possible.

"It's not going to be big theatre," he says. "They are going to get in there; get it over with and get her out of there. There is no point in prolonging it."

11.45am - Thanks for your feedback so far. I've been asked to describe how some of Corby's relatives are looking in the courtroom and all I can say about them is that they appear stoic. No one seems to have had much sleep overnight. There appears to be a sense of resignation about all of this. Corby herself is very composed and dignified.

11.41am - The chief judge here has a reputation for having a very hard line on drugs. He's seen more than 500 cases, and never acquitted, he says. He was also a member of the team which sentenced Bali bomber Imam Samudra to death.

11.37am - The judges are speaking very quickly. Schapelle's looking at the ground, her poor translator struggling to keep up with them. He's talking about the charges she's facing, and the background facts of the case. Despite all the emotion wrapped up in this case, it's easy to forget that this is very much a standard narcotics case, as far as the court is concerned.

11.31am - They're preparing to read the verdict. It's been a long few months for Schapelle and the nation as we've followed her saga from Day 1. Now it all comes down to this.

11.30am - And here are the judges. Schapelle looks concerned as Chief Judge Linton Sirait and Judges I Gusti Lanang and Wayan Suasatrawan take to the bench. They're going to read a 79-page judgement.

11.27am - Everyone's taking their places still. It's a sunny day in Bali, a balmy 24C and partly cloudy. The day's high temperature is expected to be 30C, with the humidity at 90 percent.

11.23am - There's quite a bit of affection between Corby and her her legal team. They've been through hell. The charges she's defending are very serious and we've seen intense media scrutiny here. Corby's clutching at a crucifix around her neck. She's found a lot of comfort in religion over the past few months.

11.19am - Now Schapelle's greeting her lawyer, Lily Lubis. The courtroom's abuzz with media, bystanders, supporters and legal experts. An ambulance is on standby in case Schapelle faints or needs medical treatment.

11.14am - The courtroom seems quite ordered today from how we've seen it in the past. The Indonesians have imposed a series of conditions, like a dress code and stationary cameras, which aeren't usually the case there. Schapelle's breathing deeply, smiling and waving. She's not being sedated today, on her own request. It's the most crucial day of her life.

11.11am - And here's Schapelle. She's dressed in a a black blouse shirt with her hair tied back, smiling at members of the court. Her parents, Ros and Michael, are sitting behind her in the very packed and busy public gallery.

This post has been edited by corridon: 27 May 2005 - 03:28 AM

[adam cul]

Guilty ... 20 years. It was to be expected i s'pose.

They have till wednesday to appeal.

:lemming:

[dipper]

Yer the appeal might see her getting a worst penalty.

[dipper]

Yer the appeal might see her getting a worst penalty.
Shit soz WHY does it do that??

This post has been edited by dipper: 01 June 2005 - 09:20 AM

[latino heat]

This is my guess. You write your post then you to post it and it takes awhile to finish loading. You get sick of waiting and press stop and post it again not knowing that you already posted the first time.

[dipper]

Nah i think its i somthing to do with POSTDATA when u click back to reply then bac again it must post again but i dont really know.