Schapelle Corby - Innocent or Guilty?

[Garpal Gumnut]

Hey "pilots", hand over the controls to the co- pilot..and put the radar on pal, because you're headed for a crash landing!!
So the stolen motorbike that's found in your driveway...you stole it, didn't you??.. No one else could have possibly put it there??
And I'll change what I like , when I like... Stiff ****!
This is my first time on this site anyway, and I wouldn't be here today if the media circus hadn't been involved in the first place with this fiasco...and you don't need to be a third rate "$$$ in the eyes" mobile phone salesman to know it!
And if ever you are called up for jury duty at some time, decline the offer please...because it's obvious that you can't think fairly and reason rationally!

One of them is alive. Check the rest.

gg

 

[Stormin_Norman]

theyre worth the comedy alone.

lets talk about home invasions over drug debts? im sure corby, home invasion will return something on google.

 

[ColB]

Straight From Varekai's Circus Website

The last five years with Varekai

Having been on the road for just about five years now, Varekai and the Corby cast and crew have changed in more ways than one! It may be difficult for many to recall where they were exactly five years ago, but five very special people were there at the beginning of Varekai and have remained with the show ever since.

ZackW
Patsy
Schu
Ewann
Ado

For further details of this circus act refer to the following link

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/varekai/intro/facts.htm

 

[pilots]

Aussie Gold was a term coined by journalist - Neil McMahon. Undoubtably to assist him in selling his articles in the saturated market at that time. There is no evidence whatsoever that Australian MJ is exported to Indonesia. Aussie Gold is nothing other than a catchy phrase with no bearing whatsoever on fact.

The 20 year sentence is in no way a representation of justice.

Shapelle represents absolutely no threat to any society in any way.

The mainstream media in Australia is too weak, too frightened, too compliant or too stupid to bother reporting the facts or simply does not have the competency to do so.

The Australian press cannot be trusted to deliver any serious message of human right violations of its own people without reducing the violations as tacky tabloid "entertainment" to its audiences.

Patsy, you like Zacko are wrong, you can buy imported grass in Bali, all so you never buy from a local, as you could be set up, you only but from xpats who live in Bali, (we all know some one who lives in Bali) yes twenty years is too long but had she played by the rules she would have only got 4 or5 years, she can thank her family for that.
Yes she is no threat to any society, I agree, but she still must serve her twenty years.
The press has a job to sell papers only, why would you let the truth get in the way of a good story.
At the rate she is going, she will end up with more than twenty years if she keeps bending the rules. Only 16 to go.

 

[Julia]

CUT THE CRAP FPSS!!

If I wanted Tom Percy on my counsel, I would need some enormous bucks. They may not have paid for him, but to say they had poor representation with him there is complete bull****.

Maybe check the facts, Chops, before being so rude to Kay.

See this is where ignorance comes into play....and why there are so many misconceptions with the Corby case. At no time was Tom Percy legally engaged to represent Schapelle Corby.

Her legal representatives were:

Lily Sri Rahaya Lubis and Erwin Siregar [Indonesia]
Robin Tampoe [Australia] - no longer practicing law.

Advisor: Vasu Rasiah, a Sri Lankan who had no legal training.

After the case failed Hotman Hutapea was engaged briefly. He did not present critical evidence in the case. He was merely there to conclude the case so that the Australian - Indonesian relationship could resume.

I'm not arguing guilt / innocence of Schapelle Corby... so there's really no need for people to become so inflamed or outraged. But there is a great deal about this case that people weren't aware of because of all the distractions surrounding the case; ie: family in the news, best friends selling stories..... etc....

among these are assumptions you have made that Tom Percy represented Schapelle when he did not!

I think many people made the assumption that Chops has done. Here is an ABC report about the situation:

Questions over role of Perth QC in Corby team
June 27, 2005


Mark Trowell comes out firing when he is being questioned, writes Matthew Moore in Jakarta.

Mark Trowell is one of those lawyers who likes to ask questions rather than answer them.

"Listen, listen, listen - be civil or I won't talk to you anymore. I am not on f---ing trial here; I'm not being cross-examined. I'm being polite. I'm responding to you and I'm telling you don't try an interrogation with me. It's offensive. I do this for a living … "

That is how the Perth Queen's Counsel responded to several questions from the Herald about why he had publicly accused a member of Schapelle Corby's legal team, Vasu Rasiah, of seeking $500,000 of Government money to bribe judges in the case.

Mr Trowell's hotly contested comments could hardly have been more provocative, more damaging or more calculating. In less than two days, predictably, they caused the demise of Corby's legal team, swiftly followed by its partial reinstatement.

However, Mr Trowell was not about to explain his extraordinary attack half-way through Corby's appeal, despite being warned in advance by Corby's Jakarta lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, that it would be extremely damaging to her case. "There are reasons for it," he said.
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As with nearly everything Mr Trowell has done since he offered to help Corby the day after she was convicted, his comments focused criticism on her Indonesian lawyers and her financial backers as opposed to the Federal Government.

The involvement of Mr Trowell and another Perth QC, Tom Percy, remains a mystery a month after they offered their free help for Corby at the suggestion of the Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock.

Mr Trowell will not say what his relationship with the family now is. "They are private discussions. I'm not going to say what was said."

Nor can he say how a couple of Australian lawyers who cannot speak Indonesian might be able to provide real help. Instead, he has attacked his colleagues on Corby's legal team from the outset.

It started within days of the verdict. Mr Trowell and Mr Percy complained that Corby's Australian lawyer, Robin Tampoe, had not returned their phone call offering help, as if to suggest their advice might have helped save Corby from a 20-year sentence.

One contribution Mr Trowell does claim to have made is his recommendation that a big-wheel Jakarta lawyer be recruited for the appeal. One of his hand-picked candidates,

Mr Hutapea, got the job, promised to pay all costs himself, and immediately announced a public relations campaign led by a television star, Anisa Hapsari, to get a hostile Indonesian public on side and create an environment in which Corby might get a favourable decision.

Mr Trowell immediately condemned his colleague for holding a news conference with "soapie starlets".

"How insulting is it to suggest that public pressure would in any way influence Indonesian judges in their decision," Mr Trowell said from Perth.

His remarks might have sounded sensible in Australia, but Corby is in Indonesia, where lawyers routinely get quotes

for clients on the price of organising demonstrators to help mould public opinion and influence judges.

Mr Hutapea and the rest of Corby's original legal team say that instead of helping, Mr Trowell's comments have harmed Corby's appeal and diverted criticism from the Federal Government. Because of his friendship with the Minister for Justice, Chris Ellison, and his former role in the West Australian Liberal Party, they see him as a wrecker.

Whether that is right or not, Mr Trowell is happy with his efforts, welcoming as great news Corby's decision to sack her legal team.

For months until her conviction the Federal Government had been attacked relentlessly by Mr Rasiah, by her financial backer, Ron Bakir, and by members of Corby's family.

Without ever admitting their own serious failings in the case, they accused the Government and the Australian Federal Police of covering up a drug-courier network, of refusing to hand over closed-circuit TV footage and of refusing to name customs and other airport officers working on the day Corby travelled.

Their criticism of the Government stung. It forced the Prime Minister to get involved and it hurt enough to force the Government to ignore the advice of the federal police commissioner, Mick Keelty, and send to Bali a prisoner whose evidence Mr Keelty said was nothing but "hearsay upon hearsay".

John Howard also sent Senator Ellison to Jakarta, where he lobbied the Indonesian Attorney-General to instruct his prosecutor not to ask for the death sentence.

It worked. The prosecutor asked only for life, and in the end Corby was jailed for 20 years. Australians may have been shocked, but she got off lightly by standards in Indonesia, where many foreigners are on death row for smuggling less than a tenth of the drugs Corby was caught with.

Every lawyer dealing with drugs cases in Indonesia will tell you money can be paid to reduce the sentence, especially when foreigners are involved.

But Mr Trowell dismisses this as rumour and "offensive to Indonesians".

Whether he will have any continuing role with the Corby family is unclear in the confusion over the status of her legal team.

 

[pilots]

Hey "pilots", hand over the controls to the co- pilot..and put the radar on pal, because you're headed for a crash landing!!
So the stolen motorbike that's found in your driveway...you stole it, didn't you??.. No one else could have possibly put it there??
And I'll change what I like , when I like... Stiff ****!
This is my first time on this site anyway, and I wouldn't be here today if the media circus hadn't been involved in the first place with this fiasco...and you don't need to be a third rate "$$$ in the eyes" mobile phone salesman to know it!
And if ever you are called up for jury duty at some time, decline the offer please...because it's obvious that you can't think fairly and reason rationally!

So I have a stoled bike in my drive, now if my brother dragged it up the drive, and I said YES THIS IS MINE then I should spend time for theft.

 

[nunthewiser]

They've had too much, someone call the paramedics.

We can't have the Synchronised Boogieboard Team all do a lie down at the next Olympics.

gg

hahahahahahahahahah

geez i enjoy your posts !


better get miss tintong to smooth out the customs on the way

 

[moXJO]

Heres a quote from a stoner site that has nothing to do with anything corby related.

Bali Marijuana prices: Aceh Weed and Nepalese hash 500,000 Rupiah for a good 10 grams, though make sure you bargain you will initially be charged much more and u can get the price down to 350,000 Rupiah. Australian hydro varies, Aussies get better prices than others, though its about 30 USD for a gram, but as I said earlier prices vary greatly ive heard people saying they’ve paid as much as 80 USD for a gram. Though generally I suggest you don’t pay that much, it means prices go up and stay up.

a recent erport we recieved is: "The prices that are stated in the original report are rip off prices, however if you are a tourist and cannot speak the language or are only speaking from a book, you will generally get those sorts of prices. Good weed is indeed incredibly hard to come by, but if you are a good negotiator (and you manage to find it) you can get it for 50-100 thou, depending on your attitude with the guy."

http://www.webehigh.com/city/detail.php?CITYID=2192

So you can get up to roughly 2-5 times the price you would get here.

 

[moXJO]

I think most of the regulars here are tired of this. We have made our minds up. We do not really care for Ms Corby over other more pressing human rights cases. And I personally would like this thread locked. It serves no purpose other than to drag complete strangers onto this site, who are doing nothing other than demonstrating obsessive love and unhealthy slagging of long time members of this site.

I am all for talking about other more pressing human rights issues. But this is all over. GET THE **** OVER IT!!!

I'm with Chops on this. When they start hanging corby's defense on john ford its game over.

 

[nunthewiser]

im here for the dirty pics and the soon to be released bali version of "prisoner" ......coming to a video store soon!

 

[chops_a_must]

Hahaha... so their legal team turned down Percy and Trowel to work pro bono?


Clearly working with the top of the gene pool here.

Quality.

 

[pilots]

If the imported grass is in short supply they will charge up to ten times more, and it is sold as AUSSIE GOLD.

 

[slim pickins]

does anyone know why robin tampoe is no longer workign as a solicitor.
is it because he found a new profession or was he struck off for admitting he fabricated evidence regarding the baggage handlers?

what is he doing now?

 

[Patsy]

Patsy, you like Zacko are wrong, you can buy imported grass in Bali, all so you never buy from a local, as you could be set up, you only but from xpats who live in Bali, (we all know some one who lives in Bali) yes twenty years is too long but had she played by the rules she would have only got 4 or5 years, she can thank her family for that.
Yes she is no threat to any society, I agree, but she still must serve her twenty years.
The press has a job to sell papers only, why would you let the truth get in the way of a good story.
At the rate she is going, she will end up with more than twenty years if she keeps bending the rules. Only 16 to go.

Well we agree on a couple of things

"yes twenty years is too long" and "Yes she is no threat to any society"
and the bit about the press.

There is no such thing as Aussie Gold being available in Bali. That is pure myth.

And out of curiosity what do you mean by the rules?

 

[ewann]

So I have a stoled bike in my drive, now if my brother dragged it up the drive, and I said YES THIS IS MINE then I should spend time for theft.

Schapelle never admitted that the drugs were hers. She only claimed the boogie board bag itself was hers, not the newly found contents inside. She remains steadfast in her innocence. Schapelle begged for testing of the evidence. I can't see why this would be refused by the police, prosecution, and court unless they had something to hide. This could have been a simply open and shut case leaving little argument about the trial being conducted fairly had they tested and allowed all evidence to be admitted into court. By not allowing any of this to happen, it makes it pretty much impossible for Schapelle to not only prove the drugs were not hers but to prove her innocence as well. There wasn't ever a proper investigation and this is a gross violation of all of our human rights, not just Schapelle's.

FPSS was spot on here:

In answer to your question "What would have been the go for legal advice / negotiation?"

any lawyer with experience in these matters would have looked at the evidence and seen that there was no way they could prove Schapelle's innocence. There was no overwhelming evidence to submit and there were no witnesses or affidavidts or other evidence supporting her innocence. There was only people saying 'I believe she is innocent' and Schapelle herself proclaiming innocence.

Unfortunately, this doesn't make for a strong legal case .. so given that there wasn't any tangible evidence in her favour, her lawyers should have kept it out of the media, kept it low profile as possible; and called for the judges to take into consideration her previously unblemished character, no known offences, and done things respectfully and diplomatically. Not turn it into a three ringed circus. Bearing in mind that even when you have overwhelming evidence to support your innocence and a government fully backing you, it still offers no guarantees.

In Schapelle's case, the outcome would not have been as dramatic if everyone involved had not made it so dramatic.

The sad thing is that now it's too late to turn the clock back and do it the way it should have been done. Now Schapelle has to face the reality of a 20 year sentence when others who have been detained with greater quantities than her, have been sentenced far less.

Lessons to be learnt here folks. Certainly the issue of foreign internment is a complex one and seldom has much to do about innocence and guilt.

 

[ewann]

...
FPSS,

you said you were locked up in laos. how long what for.... and how come you eventually walked? did you do the crime?

If you are unaware of Kay's plight of how she was wrongfully imprisoned, I encourage you to access her website http://www.kaydanes.com. She also has a few books out there that provide a very harrowing, yet informative and eye-opening read. Amazingly after her ordeal she had the strength and courage to speak out about the grave injustices and continues to fight for the human rights of others detained throughout the world, regardless of their innocence or guilt. It doesn't matter which side of the bars you happen to be on, you are entitled to your human rights. Not sure of what those rights entail? http://www.un.org/events/humanrights/udhr60/declaration.shtml

... What a disappointment FPSS turned out to be, just when you thought they would solve all your troubles.

FPSS is very unique and remarkable volunteer organization. To say that the FPSS is a disappointment only tells me that you are misinformed on the work that they do. To quote the Foreign Prisoners website, "HUMAN RIGHTS FOR EACH PERSON REGARDLESS OF AGE, RACE, RELIGION OR POLITICS"
http://www.foreignprisoners.com/ They are not only fighting for the human rights of those detained, but that of the detainee's families and ourselves. We may be lucky enough to never find ourselves, family, and/or friends in a horrific situation-but maybe that would be different if nobody spoke out about other tragic cases. Everyone is entitled to their dignity, no matter what they've done or may do in the future. Mistakes happen and that doesn't make us inhuman...it makes us human and we still deserve to be treated as such.

Thank you to Kay, FPSS, and others like them for the services they provide others!

 

[FPSS]

Thank you for the post on FPSS... Someone in this thread said that they wanted to lock it because they have heard enough about the Corby case and this is a popular comment by many Australians I have to agree. The Corby case has been hacked to death by media.

But in such cases, there is a lot for people to learn from and that has to count for some reasonable discussion surely?

Everyone continues to get caught up on 'she did it' or 'her brother did it' or 'the whole family are into drugs'.... when some serious questions has never been answered....

1. How did 4.2kg of MJ get from Brisbane domestic to Sydney Domestic to Sydney International and then to Bali without anyone detecting such a large quantity of MJ. Consider also that Corby checked in the BBB at Brisbane domestic and that was the last she touched it until she claimed it in Bali.

2. Why didn't our government support the Corby's lawyers call to have the MJ tested for origin?

The reason I ask these two questions is because this concerns me as a traveller that there is might be a possibility that someone could put stuff in my bag without my knowledge and then I get nabbed at the other end. What if that country had the death penalty? Does anyone else have a concern with liability once you check in your bag at the airport? Does anyone think there should be tighter controls?

For example; in Thailand where I worked in the security industry, in some airports they scanned your bag first before check in. that way if you have 4.2kg of MJ in your bag you get nabbed at the onset..... helps reduce the risk of drug trafficking in some instances. I wonder if we shouldn't be looking at some of these measures.

At Brisbane airport, when Corby travelled, they didn't scan baggage for drugs, only explosives. Even up to 2008, the security measures are still very lax.

 

[pilots]

Well we agree on a couple of things

"yes twenty years is too long" and "Yes she is no threat to any society"
and the bit about the press.

There is no such thing as Aussie Gold being available in Bali. That is pure myth.

And out of curiosity what do you mean by the rules?

Well last Xmas she would have got one month off, but the dumb Mule was found to have a Mobile phone in her cell, as to the myth of Aussie Gold, yes that is available on the streets of Bali today.

 

[slim pickins]

i just read the story about kay danes. very interesting. it draws some interesting comparisons to that of schapelle corby.

they are similar becasue both kay and schapelle seem to have brokern the laws of a foreign country and got busted for it. and paid the price.

kay, if you go to communist dictatorship and engage in activities that have anything to do with human rights or the security industry you are either a spy or a trouble maker. what do you expect will happen?

just who has experience in the security industry, surveilance, interregation resistance, hmmmmmm.

anyway regardless of what you were there for, either to spy on them or start a rebellion, you had to expect somehting like that to happen to you... hell i could have told you that. now even though i agree that those regimes should be changed, you are under their sovreignty whilst there and at their mercy.

they believed you borke their laws and bingo. they believed you were either spying or a threat to them in other ways and they took action against you. no surprise there.

now, notice that the australian government lobbied in order to seucre kay's release. this is bacause the aussie government believed you were either innocent or doing what is in our national interest. so thats why you are free, and you know that....... who knows what strings they pulled or who they paid or what they did to get you out.... excellent... i am gald... and it only reenforces my statement several days ago that our government will not leave an innocent perosn behind.

if corby was innocent and our government knew it... it would take a phone call and she would be out. she is still in there because the powers that be know she is in it waist deep. the diabolical drug trafficking mastermind. schapelle "the mastermind" corby.

thanks kay, you are living proof that she belongs there.

 

[sails]

Thank you for the post on FPSS... Someone in this thread said that they wanted to lock it because they have heard enough about the Corby case and this is a popular comment by many Australians I have to agree. The Corby case has been hacked to death by media.

But in such cases, there is a lot for people to learn from and that has to count for some reasonable discussion surely?

Everyone continues to get caught up on 'she did it' or 'her brother did it' or 'the whole family are into drugs'.... when some serious questions has never been answered....

1. How did 4.2kg of MJ get from Brisbane domestic to Sydney Domestic to Sydney International and then to Bali without anyone detecting such a large quantity of MJ. Consider also that Corby checked in the BBB at Brisbane domestic and that was the last she touched it until she claimed it in Bali.

2. Why didn't our government support the Corby's lawyers call to have the MJ tested for origin?

The reason I ask these two questions is because this concerns me as a traveller that there is might be a possibility that someone could put stuff in my bag without my knowledge and then I get nabbed at the other end. What if that country had the death penalty? Does anyone else have a concern with liability once you check in your bag at the airport? Does anyone think there should be tighter controls?

For example; in Thailand where I worked in the security industry, in some airports they scanned your bag first before check in. that way if you have 4.2kg of MJ in your bag you get nabbed at the onset..... helps reduce the risk of drug trafficking in some instances. I wonder if we shouldn't be looking at some of these measures.

At Brisbane airport, when Corby travelled, they didn't scan baggage for drugs, only explosives. Even up to 2008, the security measures are still very lax.

Kay, I appreciate your sensible approach to this issue. There has been so much mud slinging on both sides where conjecture appears to run wild. I think the questions you ask above are valid and need answers. I would like to think airports are checking for drugs prior to departure for everyone's safety.

I am sorry to hear of your own personal battle and admire the help you now give to others, not to mention putting up with the mud slinging in these types of forums!

As I have said earlier, I am undecided on this issue (not that my opinion does any good anyway ) . While different circumstances entirely, I remember Lindy Chamberlin's case well and many were quick to write her off.

I am definite in my opinion on MJ though. Have seen it's brain frying effects which sadly, is often not realised by the user themselves until they have been off it for some time. Perhaps not so detrimental in very small quantities - that I don't know. However, the drug issue aside, it appears there are questions that need answers to find the truth of what really happened in the Corby case.