Schapelle Corby's case in Bali

Australian facing death sentence in Bali was unknowing drug mule - AFP



SYDNEY (AFP) - Lawyers for an Australian woman facing the death penalty in Indonesia for alleged drug smuggling said they had new evidence showing she was unknowingly used as a courier by traffickers trying to move drugs inside Australia.

But Australian police Thursday dismissed the evidence as "hearsay" that had little bearing on the case of the woman, Schapelle Corby.

Corby, a 27-year-old student beautician from Australia's Gold Coast resort area, is on trial in Bali for allegedly smuggling 4.1 kilograms (nine pounds) of cannabis into Indonesia.

She faces the death penalty if convicted.

The marijuana was found in Corby's boogie board bag when she arrived at Bali's Denpasar Airport last October but she has steadfastly denied knowing the drugs were in her luggage.

Corby's Australian lawyers said late Wednesday that they had obtained new evidence that she was unknowingly used as a courier by organised criminals trying to smuggle the cannabis from Brisbane to Sydney.

They said a man had come forward and signed an affidavit naming three baggage handlers he says planted the drugs in Corby's bag.

The drugs were supposed to be pulled from Corby's luggage when she passed through Sydney airport, but were missed, the lawyers quoted the unidentified man as saying.

The man has offered to testify at Corby's trial, they said.

But Mick Keelty, head of the Australian Federal Police, said that investigators were questioning the informer, who is currently held in prison, and that his testimony did not bear directly on Corby's case.

"It does mention Corby, but only in the sense that the prisoner made the conclusion that it was connected to the Corby case and overheard other prisoners talking about the Corby case," Keelty said.

"It's at best hearsay evidence."

Keelty criticised Corby's lawyers for going public with "spurious allegations" about a supposed drug smuggling gang involving airport baggage handlers, saying it would do the detained Australian "no good whatsoever".

Corby's Indonesian lawyer, Vasu Rasiah, rejected Keelty's comments and said the Australian government should be doing more to save his client.

"Mr Keelty can say say whatever he likes, the fact of the matter is there is a girl in jail who could be executed," he said at a news conference in Brisbane.

"They need to take this matter very, very seriously. At this stage, the Australian government has done nothing to ensure her safety," he said.

Rasiah said the Australian police had ignored repeated requests to investigate aspects of the case that occurred in Australia, despite willingness on the part of Indonesian judges to allow such evidence to be heard.

"The judges ... have gone an extra mile to open doors so that they can release the girl, but Australia has gone 10 miles behind to avoid doing that," Rasiah said. "I can't understand that."

http://www.orientexpat.com/forum/index.php...topic=313&st=20

This is somewhat the same story, as the link above.
Of course, after arrest, all are innocent.

I have to point out, that I am against lenient sentences, where drug related criminals are getting off with some few months in a comfortable prison cell somewhere in the Western world.

In the drug scene the criminal, who is delivering the drugs is never acting solely out of himself and is usually depending on somebody else...who? where? This is a crime over the borders of a country.

I question however, if the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for such crimes.

The death penalty is always a difficult subject, because if carried out, it is not reversible.

stroll, on Mar 17 2005, 09:03 PM, said:

Not idiotic, totally absurd.

if luggage handlers are involved we all might be in for it!

Don't travel to countries where the penalty for smuggling drugs is death .

dickie, on Mar 18 2005, 02:36 AM, said:

What you are saying, makes some sense to me....

If you are on vacation, stay off countries, which are based on dictatorship and execute cruel punishments. No need to go there...

Cruel punishment however should not be mixed up with hard punishment - hard punishment is now missing in Europe, often protecting the criminal more than his victim.

Jingle, on Mar 18 2005, 10:14 AM, said:

I think, Dickie wrote this comment not to encourage drug dealers, but to ask people, who are against cruel punishments, to stay away from these countries.

Usually such people do not have any relationship with drugs at all. The meaning is to stay away in protest of cruel treatment of prisoners by that government.

To execute the death penalty solely for a first time drug offence or to beat a person bloody with a heavy English cane is cruel punishment.

I second this comment from Dickie...countries, which are still using punishments of the Dark Ages, should be avoided by tourists. Not worth to visit them.

This should be not misunderstood in that way, that I am not in favour for hard punishments for drug related offences or other serious crimes.

This post has been edited by yohan: 21 March 2005 - 10:49 PM

Ken Dodd's Dad's dog', on Mar 22 2005, 12:06 AM, said:

There is no reason to support a government which is a dictatorship and/or which is using CRUEL punishments....

May I understand your reply to encourage people to visit places like Iran, Saudi-Arabia and to support such governments? Malaysia is quite similar in this sense...Singapore also....

Problem with this is - it seems it was a setup by the baggage handlers. The frightening part - it could happen to anyone.

This post has been edited by britmaveric: 26 March 2005 - 02:04 AM

This whole case is senseless. Who would smuggle ganja to Bali for f*** sake. I could understand if it was going in the other direction. I believe the baggage handler story though I doubt any of them will ever come forward and admit they did it.

Quote

Not as absurd as the claim that it was being smuggled from one oz city to another via baggage handlers at an airport. It's not as daft as it sounds-one oz going to bali which is full of ozzies and selling a bit of dope to finance the trip. She might have considered this safer than buying and selling in Bali. Expect to see yet another book, my **** in a Bali Hellhole, yawn-peter

[color="blue"]Fixed Quote[/color]

This post has been edited by Bluecat: 22 May 2005 - 10:44 AM

thai3, on May 16 2005, 12:35 AM, said:

4.1 kg is not "a bit of dope" someone would sell to finance a trip...

The amount indicates a professional operation, and anyone familiar with airport checks in Bali wouldn't be stupid enough to risk having this amount in their own or someone elses luggage- the aim would be to get it through, which is a slim chance unless you know someone who'd help you within the airport.

I am convinced she's innocent- simple logistics. Add her character profile, and the sentence looks out of place, but this is nothing unusual as far as alledged drug offences are concerned.

To bring drugs from Australia to Indonesia is somewhat strange to me, but the idea, to do so and to sell drugs to other countrymen for own profit is not impossible.

4 kg is a heavy, large amount - she did not notice anything when carrying her bags....???

She was arrested October 2004, now it is May 2005... it seems, investigation by Australian police and others like journalists did not find anything to proof her innocence.

To 'smuggle' drugs within Australia by putting it into bags of passengers is also a strange argument - 'professional criminals' would choose different transportation routes and not only for 4 kg.
To put it in a bag, and then again to search for this bag and to take it out...how many pieces of luggage are handled in an airport?
-----
The only what can be done now, is to negotiate an agreement with the Indonesian Government for a transfer of this prisoner (and maybe some other prisoners) to Australia.

The reaction of the Australian government is correct....remain polite, but continue by diplomatic channels to get her out from there.
-----

I am missing any comment by Indonesian people...

I am not sure, if this Australian person is innocent, however death penalty, life in prison, or 20 years is just not in a relationship with this kind of crime.

Here's my 2 baht on the case...

Why, if Corby was smuggling the drugs, did she not take the basic precaution of putting a lock on her bodyboard bag?

Why did she not put the drugs behind the bodyboard, which would have concealed them from anyone opening the bag? Why did she not try to conceal the contents of the plastic bags?

Why would anyone risk a death sentence smuggling marijuana to Bali, where it will sell for much less than in Australia?

The federal police confirm that Corby has no criminal record. Queensland police have no intelligence to relate her to drugs.

The drug's wholesale price in Brisbane is $4000 for half a kilogram. Where did a woman who works in a fish and chip shop get the A$36,000 it could cost to buy 4.1 kilograms?

Colby is either not guilty IMO, or the dumbist bint in the world. Any drug dog would have gone crazy at this bag if they got a wiff within 10 metres.

The problem is that the defence can establish a lot of doubt but no proof. From the outset, the prosecution insisted that the only way they would accept that Corby was innocent was proof - visual or by weight - that the marijuana was not in the bodyboard bag when she checked it in at Brisbane airport. Or visual evidence of someone putting the drugs in the bodyboard bag.

Everybody knew from the start,that there was no real evidence that could prove her innocence...no camera footage, no fingerprints, a botched case regarding contaminated evidence in Bali and no weights.

And last but not least...she had a great pair of tits.not guilty IMO.

yohan, on May 27 2005, 11:00 PM, said:

This kind of story circulated in Indonesian Newspapers (taken from a forum):

Quote

And hence the Indonesian people are more or less convinced she is guilty...

Well, people do bring smallish amounts for their own consumption and a bit of trading, but not 4kg. It's not an amount you could casually sell during a few weeks holiday.

There is more than reasonable doubt about her guilt, and if she did really try to smuggle, she and her contacts are complete, clueless idiots.

Oops, just read Bluecat's post above.
If this is true, I rest my case: these guys are IDIOTS!

This post has been edited by stroll: 28 May 2005 - 12:57 AM

Bluecat, on May 27 2005, 11:18 PM, said:

I think she is probably more likely to be guilty than innocent. Just another arrogant westerner who thinks they can do what they like in other countries if they don't agree with their laws and customs. Why is it that it's always the young pretty women who cause such a 'she's innocent' uproar? Given the same circumstances but the arrested being a 50 year old brit lets say, few would give a toss, and rightly so.-peter

I personally don't see how anybody can be that dumb, even an Australian.

thai3, on May 16 2005, 02:35 AM, said:

I see little reason for 'domestic smuggle' in Australia. Who will check your luggage anyway?

I do not know about airport security in Australia, however considering regulations at Tokyo International Airport Narita, the baggage handling story is difficult to believe.

In Narita Airport, the baggage handling area is off-limit except for authorized personnel - the entrance-exit is controlled by security personnel, every person entering or leaving is recorded by a video system with ID-card-reader.
There is an all-out video system installed in the baggage handling area, the people working there can be seen all time on monitors and any move is recorded.

All workers are obliged to use working clothes carrying their ID card all time in the restricted zone - nobody is allowed to carry any bag, any parcel, any item from outside to inside, and of course also from inside to outside.
Personal belongings are restricted to a few items like a handkerchief, a small wallet...

It should be noticed, that no Japanese airport is mixing international with domestic luggage. It is separated and packed into different containers.
Should this not be possible, the passenger has to check in again with full luggage at the transfer counter at the next airport to obtain the boarding card for the international connection flight, when leaving the country.

This post has been edited by yohan: 28 May 2005 - 08:37 AM

A good summery of this case can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia....Schapelle_Corby

It is really a difficult case.....just some lines about what is written there:

Schapelle Corby said that the customs officer pointed at her bag and asked her brother if the bag belonged to him. Corby replied that it was hers. She opened her bag without being asked by the customs officer.

The customs officer, Gusti Nyoman Winata, gave a different version of the event. He said that he asked Corby to open her bag and she opened up an empty compartment of the bag. When he demanded a different compartment of the bag to be opened, she tried to prevent him from performing his duty. Corby's defence rejects these claims.

Whom to believe? But why should this custom officer not telling the truth in court?

Colonel Bambang Sugiarto, senior officer of the Balinese Drug Squad, has stated on Australian television that the lack of television footage at the Bali airport, and problems with fingerprinting of exhibits were weaknesses in the prosecution case.

A serious problem, Bali airport, NO security camera system at the customs....
Can you believe that custom officers do not know anything about fingerprinting?

The fact that Corby is young, white, female and attractive has led to allegations that she is receiving sympathy and support from the government that is not afforded to other Australians imprisoned around the world.

What to say about that? True? Not true?