Schapelle Corby - Innocent or Guilty?

she is not facing the death penalty, that is a good thing for her, but there are plenty of others in the prison system that are, local and foreign. all sad tales and many from far poorer circumstances and harder places and even forced into it, but for corby she had choices..

Click to expand...

moXJO said:

Drug dealers can rot for all I care.

Click to expand...

2020hindsight said:

yep - specially cigarette companies.

Click to expand...

explod said:

She at no time admitted that she was aware of the bags contents. It was the say so of the officer in the first instance who would say anything to please superiors.

It is one against the other scenario that makes it imperative for the exhibits, (The bag and its contents) to be subject to forensic examination. Of course they were destroyed, not hard to make assumptions on this.

I know we cant tell Indonesia how to suck eggs but you would think that the Attorney General's department would at least work on relations and do a bit of back slapping to find some angles. Not suggesting colored beeds, but play a bit of their own game in reverse. I know a number of businesses who have done well by paying incentive fees to certain connections along the path so to speak. Some have finished up in the can here though and serve them right.

Click to expand...

2020hindsight said:

PS And until they're consistent, i.e. tough on the cigarette companies, they should be reasonable with the "other" cases.

PS Not so sure I like these blokes who threatened Scott Rush though - the "mule drivers" who planned to accompany the mules sleeking in the sahadows as they took the risk of clearing customs etc. Manipulators. His mates on death row. They don't deserve execution, but they are much worse that Scott Rush - or Schapelle for that matter - and could surely do with an extended cooling off period. - seriously extended. (just imo).

Click to expand...

Garpal Gumnut said:

As Mr.Bjelke-Petersen would have said, if it walks like a duck, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.

She was a duck.

She is guilty.

Click to expand...

2020hindsight said:

Lol
and Joh walked like a corrupt politician, - looked and quacked like one, as well.

He was sooo lucky not to go to jail.

Click to expand...

Julia said:

Why are you so indulgent towards Rush? He entirely knowingly carried the drugs - worn in such a way as to be easily detected - into a country where they make no secret of the death penalty for such an offence?

Click to expand...

Rush told the court Chan told him "You do as I say, don't mess around with me. I've got a gun with me and I could kill you. If I wanted to, I could kill you right now" [7]. Chan has protested his innocence, saying before the court, "A lot of lies have been set against me, but the true reality is I'm not what people put me out to be. I've never threatened anybody in my life" [8].

Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Rush
On February 13, 2006, Rush was sentenced to life imprisonment[2]. Rush appealed this sentence, and on September 6, 2006, his sentence was upgraded to the death penalty [3] - the only drug mule who received this sentence.[4]

Click to expand...

Rush's father, Lee Rush, said he contacted the Australian Federal Police in April 2005 fearing his son was travelling to Bali and would commit a drug related crime. Lee Rush claims then to have received assurances from the AFP that they would tell his son he was under surveillance to dissuade him from going through with the crime. Scott Rush's lawyers said he was never contacted.

Rush has brought an action in the Federal Court of Australia in Darwin against the AFP for breach of the bilateral treaty between Indonesia and Australia when information was handed by the AFP to the Indonesians. Such information should only be released by the Attorney-General. However, the Commonwealth Government maintains that the treaty only applies after a suspect is charged [11]. The application was dismissed by the Federal Court in January, 2006.

During February 2006, Rush's parents gave an interview to Australian Broadcasting Corporation television program, Australian Story, speaking out against Australian Federal Police actions.

"I was informed at 1.30 in the morning that Scott would be spoken to and asked not to board the flight to Bali. It wasn't until about mid-morning that I received a call from Bob and a distressed tone in his voice he said, 'Mate, we could not stop him, they have let him go through and he's on his way to Bali'. Under no circumstances do I condone the trafficking of drugs - I particularly dislike drugs of any nature, always have. When I received a call from the Australian Government authorities that Scott had been detained in Indonesia for attempting to export heroin, I was speechless, sickened to the gut."

Rush's mother, Christine Rush, also spoke of her disappointment with the Australian Federal Police. "I feel very let down by our Australian Federal Police - we tried to lawfully stop our son leaving the country, it wasn't done." [12].

The interview aired on ABC's Australian Story on February 13, 2006.

Click to expand...

During court proceedings, Rush initially refused to handle strapping material admitted as evidence, saying "No no", before agreeing to handle the evidence after being urged by the judge.

Click to expand...

2020hindsight said:

But also his father notified the Federal Police 10 hours before he left Australia (Brisbane airport), and was assured that he would be stopped from going to Bali. Instead they did nothing - other than to notify the Indonesian police.
That's the only way they were arrested by the way.

Click to expand...

Julia said:

... rather than go ahead with carrying the drugs into Indonesia.

Click to expand...

The Bali Nine is the name given to a group of nine Australian citizens arrested on 17 April 2005, in Denpasar on the island of Bali, Indonesia, in a plan to smuggle 8.3 kg (18 lb) of heroin valued at approximately AUD 4 million from Indonesia to Australia.

[1] Andrew Chan, Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Renae Lawrence, Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens and Myuran Sukumaran, all aged between 18 and 28 at the time of their arrests,[2] faced the death penalty if convicted.[3]

Click to expand...

There were several avenues of appeal available to the Bali Nine. Lawyers had seven days post sentencing to lodge appeals. There is no time limit for those convicted to request clemency from the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, however this requires an admission of guilt and has never been granted for a drug trafficking conviction. All have indicated they would be appealing their sentences,[40] except Scott Rush, who decided to seek clemency rather than follow the appeals process. Five of the nine convicted had their sentences reduced from life imprisonment to a 20-year sentence upon appeal.


[edit] Related arrests
On 27 April 2005, Indonesian police shot and killed Man Singh Ghale, a known major Indonesian drug trafficker believed to be directly connected to the Bali Nine. Ghale, of Nepalese origin, was killed when police stormed his Jakarta home.[41] Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty said Ghale was "directly linked" to the Bali Nine.[42]

Click to expand...

Julia said:

OK, sorry. Out of Indonesia.
Changes nothing in terms of his guilt/innocence.

I see most of life in shades of grey, rather than black and white.
But I have two exceptions to this: drug trafficking and violence/abuse of children.

Click to expand...

2020hindsight said:

so you'd also like to see Cigarette Company Directors rot in jail?

Click to expand...

ZackW said:

The callous and compassionless position of so many people on this is frankly sickening. 20 years. To any right minded person that is obscene.

Maybe it is because of the smear campaign, which so many have been dumb enough to swallow. You know the one - the one depicted by this film, which mainstream media never mention:


The rest of the world can see the facts onbjectively, from outside this sphere of influence. The sham of a trial, the cruelty, and the subsequent unsubstantiated smears used to manage Australian opinion.

Just how do you think the rest of the world views Australia, in growing numbers, in the light of this? Perhaps you should ask Miss Hack.

Click to expand...

ZackW said:

WORLDWIDE VIDEO PROTEST FOR SCHAPELLE CORBY

A groundbreaking music video has today been released in support of imprisoned Australian, Schapelle Corby. Tara Hack's highly acclaimed song "Saya Tidak Bersalah, I'm Not Guilty", tells the horrific story, with the landmark video illustrating the increasingly global scale of concern.

The 'one planet' video features people in different locations across the world, each demonstrating their opposition to her continued incarceration. It illustrates how concern for Schapelle Corby is now truly international, and includes representation from the United States, Australia, the UK, New Zealand, Europe and Canada, amongst others.

The video pictorial begins in New York (home of the Statue of Liberty) and ends in Canberra (home of the Australian government), zigzagging between continents on the way. The artist, Tara Hack, who is the first to appear, said: "I hope it is a tiny step to give Schapelle back the voice that was so cruelly and unjustly stripped from her"

LANDMARK VIDEO
Jan Fielding of Margin House Records described it as a landmark video: "This is leading edge social electro-innovation. I've not seen anything like it before. It is genuine innovation on a global scale, and a landmark video."

Rachel James, of 'Artists for Schapelle' stated: "These are real people in real places, with a very powerful message. The world is watching the Australian government doing nothing to help, with their media covering their tracks. The world is watching the appalling injustice and cruelty of this case. When the world hears her cries for help and learns of her story, national boundaries become absolutely irrelevant".

She continues: "The song is beautiful, and demanded a special video to accompany it. It was therefore most fitting that it was made inclusive of global contributors, albeit within the limited production window we had available. The incredible reaction we received illustrates just how much people feel for her.".

Artists for Schapelle was created to enable musicians and others to contribute to the support campaign to free her. It is open to all artists, of every genre.

VIEW THE VIDEO
The video can be viewed directly on Schapelle.net: http://www.schapelle.net/tarahack.html

Click to expand...