NEWS: Young Australian Woman Faces Possible Death Sentence for Marijuana Smuggling

Dear Indonesia,

I am sorry to say that you have just lost another possible tourist. I am aware of how much you nee the U.S. dollar to support your political/drug dealing government but I have decided that if I want to know about your country I'll just check out a travel video instead... produced solely by someone not from, or profiting Indonesia in any way. I know, I know... what difference does one person make, but I want you think about this... all I have to do is keep telling people that Indonesia is a beautiful country filled with people that only want to imprison you for life for crimes you never committed. A people and country that appears to completely misunderstand the word Justice.

Dear department of justice in Indonesia, I strongly feel you ARE SICK and need to consult department of mental health. Death sentences for something people don't even consider a drug in other countries.
This is just my humble opinion, but I don't think all of people there are mentally ill like judges, I believe people who make laws there will take their medications soon and be better.

From: www9.sbs.com.au...

Corby Sentenced to 20 years

An Indonesian court has found Australian woman Schapelle Corby guilty of drug trafficking and has handed down a 20-year sentence.

Judges in Bali found the former beauty student guilty of carrying 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into Denpasar last October.

Justice Sirait said Corby had admitted the bag containing the drugs was hers, and also admitted the marijuana bag was hers.

Prosecutors had sought life imprisonment, and have announced they will appeal against the sentence, seeing it as too lenient.

Her sentence also includes a fine of 100 million rupiah (A$10,500)

Outside court, her financial backer Ron Bakir said her defence team would appeal against the conviction.
Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the federal government would do all it can to help Corby.

He said a prisoner transfer agreement is being worked out, but could take some time to complete.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer later said the Australian government has offered to help Corby's defence team launch a legal challenge, and has renewed an offer of two QCs to work on the case.


SOURCE: World News

Im still neither here nor there with whether she is innocent or not. Both sides of the case seem to have some merit, although i feel exporting mj out of australia wouldn't be the best business idea for a drug trafficker. IMHO, but there are plenty of tourist there so who knows. There was an excellent interview on aussie t.v. with Corby's defense attorney prior to the verdict and sentencing, where he accuses the government of a cover-up. Here are some excerpts:

GEORGE NEGUS: Vasu Rasiah thanks very much for your time because I realise how busy you must be. At this point of time you have accused the Federal Police of a cover-up, you've warned their lack of cooperation could condemn your client Schapelle Corby to a life in prison. Well having heard what you heard yesterday from the federal police commissioner and Philip Ruddock the attorney general, do you accept their explanation for why they haven't been cooperating with you?

VASU RASIAH, CORBY DEFENCE TEAM: I can understand as a fellow Australian, I can understand. If they have delayed the letter because their agents were working undercover and if they have commented on the matter of internal inquiry, the lives of the agents are jeopardised, I can understand.

GEORGE NEGUS: Whether or not that's correct, commissioner Mick Keelty is adamant he's never publicly commented on Schapelle Corey's innocence or guilt. What he claims is there's no link between the baggage investigators investigation and your client's case that the evidence and the intelligence is just not there?

VASU RASIAH: Many things Mr Keelty has done, he doesn't add up to it. Because for example, John Ford, we were told John Ford who is our witness who came from Melbourne prison, when he gave a statement to the Australian lawyers, a jury came out and discredited him and said it was here say and all that stuff before he even interviewed the man. Before he discredited him on the TV, he goes and interviews him for four hours.

the rest of the interview is here: news.sbs.com.au...#

under May 18th, 2005 Vasu Rasiah Interview

It seems that Corby's defense isn't blaming the Indonesian judical system, but the Australian Federal Police and the government in what they believe is the obstruction of this case. Without thier help, the defense was based on a prisoner from melborne who knew somebody that knew something (remembering off the top of my head) and the latest bali nine drug bust that really has no similarities whatsoever to Corby's case.

Originally posted by MankoW
Dear department of justice in Indonesia, I strongly feel you ARE SICK and need to consult department of mental health. Death sentences for something people don't even consider a drug in other countries.
This is just my humble opinion, but I don't think all of people there are mentally ill like judges, I believe people who make laws there will take their medications soon and be better.

Judges are sick eh? You know the main judge in this case is the one who sentenced to death the terrorists who carried out the Bali bombing killing 88 Australians and 150+ other people, so I have a feeling his head is screwed on right. However that's not to say that the Indonesian Legal System doesn't have problems. It has its fair share of corruption.

Yes but a lot of those countries that legalise marujiana don't have a drug problem like Indonesia and Thailand. There is something called state sovereignty and this extends to the legal system. Although I believe Corby is innocent I'm sure if an Indonesian or any other person from any country had posession of an illegal drug with or without the knowledge of the carrier and tried to gain entry to Australia many people would be calling for a long sentence. It works both ways.

And how about all the extra-judicial executions in Thailand of supposed drug-dealers and even passerby's who happened to be caught in a police operation? I don't see you calling the Thai's "mentally ill". Looks like some people really only care if the accused is from one of the more significant regional countries.

Originally posted by Chuck Stevenson
Dear Indonesia,

I am sorry to say that you have just lost another possible tourist. I am aware of how much you nee the U.S. dollar to support your political/drug dealing government but I have decided that if I want to know about your country I'll just check out a travel video instead...

This is a noble thought but the only people who are hurt if people stop visiting Indonesia are the people of Indonesia who depend on tourism to survive and to feed their families. They are not guilty either.

Originally posted by Netchicken
There is no way people would smuggle that much marijuana INTO indonesia, its like someone trying to smuggle a handgun into New York.

In the interest of historical accuracy, I would like to point out that most handguns in New Yorks are indeed smuggled in from outside, notably from Richmond.

So who knows

heard an interesting theory myself about why the drugs would have been exported. A few friends here i know who frequent bali say they never get marijuanna from the locals because there is a risk they may be informants or undercover cops, so they only buy from other tourist. just a theory

This is a sad day for indonesia...
(the government really doesn't care though, and it isn't the first time it has been proven)
there justice system has just been proven to be as worthless as Mexicos...

true, they have jurys, true they have precidents, and firm law...
but true, they are also hypocritical to the extreme...
not to mention the uselessness of minimum drug sentences that they advocate...

all that doesn't matter when justice is blind due to the buzzword "drugs"
when a person is tried for drug smuggling in indonesia, they are presumed guilty by reason of evidence (the drugs) it is then incumbent to prove that they were not yours, not the otherway around (prosecution proving they were)...
so unless you can get the same police who arrested you to help catch the real culprits, you get a long prison sentence in a rank filthy hole, (on par with mexico) or if lucky, they kill you...

This poor lady is just one of the thousands of innocents hurt/killed by indonesian law...

and sorry to all the indonesian tourist places that depend on visitors... but they just lost another one...



[edit on 27-5-2005 by LazarusTheLong]

So she gets 20 years for 9lbs of weed. Its only weed. I dont even smoke it but wtf do I care if some else smokes or sells it. And on top of it the wacked out muslim prosecuter was going for the death penalty. In this case the punishment is far from the crime & the Austrailian govt showed eveidence of 15 baggage handlers secretyly smuggling drugs in passengers bags while the passengers didnt know. So I think she is innocent. While serving her 20 years in just about the worst jails in the world she's probably gonna get raped & tortured over & over. And that will be doubled since she's not muslim & a young Aussie. If I were her family & friends I'd set up a foundation to hire the best MERC's to jail break her & kill the prosecutors & judges that sentenced her. I know i'd donate.

Sorry but this is kinda hitting home since I was planning a trip to possibly go to Bali or Thailand & it could of happened to me. Not that I smuggle drugs but if it was planted w/o me knowing & then I get busted for it. I guess im going to Hawaii instead.

It troubles me that, when checking my baggage when I fly, I am asked all sorts of questions: did I pack it myself, has it been out of my control, am I carrying anything for another person etc....etc....
I then hand over my bags to people unknown to myself and have to hope that nothing is put in or, as happens a lot, items are taken out.

If stopped by customs at my destination and asked similar questions, I always inform them that there was nothing of an illegal nature in my bags but they have been out of my control for the duration of my travel. This doesn't always go down too well

We are not allowed to lock our luggage due, we are told, to security rules.
The baggage is scanned by hi-tech instruments, sniffed by dogs etc, so you'd have to be a retard to actually try and smuggle drugs that way.

There have been a couple of reported cases in the last few months where a small piece of an explosive compound and a replica handgun have gone astray after being inserted into travellers luggage for training purposes at the airport, prior to loading into the aircraft. To me, that is an unacceptable practice and makes a mockery of the security questions we are asked at check-in

Well I completely agree with jonSUN except for killing anyone, that I would not want to be a part of but I definitely would do everything to get her home safely, it sounds as though the judge sentenced her to 20 years even though evidence was presented proving she had nothing to do with it, it sounds as though this case got a lot of publicity and to declare her totally innocent would have made their country look foolish so instead he chose to punish an innocent person to save face. But what this case has done is make sure that no one will travel there unless it is for business and a have to case. Perhaps the only way to help her right now is for anyone and everyone to write a letter letting them know that they will not travel there until she is free, for other country leaders to step forward and issue a statement in protest and to declare that country off limit to its tourists until the laws are changed and she is free, hit them in the wallet and changes will be made.

Didnt Australia donate like One Bil to Indonesia after the tsunami .

Originally posted by Opus
Didnt Australia donate like One Bil to Indonesia after the tsunami .

How can you link the unfairness of Corby's trial to the humanitarian needs of hundred of thousands of people? That's just irrational.

That proves only that this judge like to sentence people to death.
I wonder how he can sleep at night.
It is really weird how the system give some people the right to decide about other life and death.
And it is just not wise to return this for kindnes of the other country, this again proves this judge is sick.
Someone could call i justice, but we have all of these miscarriages all over so we can not even be asked of opinion, and of course if judge can not take the laws he can just resign and not been part of the problem.

Just thought Id point that out . The Judge, prosecution , and those who cheered in the court room are sick definately . Further I believe there are many Indonesians who feel for her, but are kept in silence out of fear.

[edit on C:Friocu05e5 by Opus]

[edit on C:Friocu05e5 by Opus]

[edit on C:Friocu05e5 by Opus]

Wow, what a debacle. Now that we've managed to turn this thread into a farce, with off topic tangents, biased sources, and utterly irrelevant chatter, shall we get back on topic? Facts, maybe, instead of opinions such as 'she's innocent because I say so!' and 'Weed is not a drug, it's...hey look, something shiny!'

I am rather disappointed by this thread. However, I will weight in. I do believe she is guilty, though she doesn't deserve such a harsh punishment. This is another case of 'look before you leap, stupid'. She knew she was going to be going to a country that has draconian drug laws. Or she should have, and if she couldn't trust people she was traveling with/on/over/under, she shouldn't have gone. The law is the law is law, period. Cry about how unjust it is, but she should have respected it.

DE

As for the agencies which organize travels wouldn't tell you about it, they just told you how wonderful are the people or climate there, not you can go in a jail in a second, if something like this happens.
So boycott of travel is fair enough for me, I am scared now to think about it.
I would most likely go to some other side of the world if planning my vacation.

Originally posted by Opus
Just thought Id point that out . The Judge, prosecution , and those who cheered in the court room are sick definately . Further I believe there are many Indonesians who feel for her, but are kept in silence out of fear.

You know what the defence lawyer said when said to the prosecutor when the sentence was handed down? "Twenty Years..Go to hell." He said it pretty well i think.

The majority of the Indonesian people are good people, and I am sorry to see so many Australians blame the Balinese and Indonesians as whole for the outcome of a case concerning a single Australian. On a couple of other forums I'm on the racist comments have already started flying.

Originally posted by iridescent


It seems that Corby's defense isn't blaming the Indonesian judical system, but the Australian Federal Police and the government in what they believe is the obstruction of this case. Without thier help, the defense was based on a prisoner from melborne who knew somebody that knew something (remembering off the top of my head) and the latest bali nine drug bust that really has no similarities whatsoever to Corby's case.

Particularly that idiot Mick Keelty commenting that Corby had a weak case. Yeah good work Keelty why don't you shut up next time?

Originally posted by Britguy
We are not allowed to lock our luggage due, we are told, to security rules.
The baggage is scanned by hi-tech instruments, sniffed by dogs etc, so you'd have to be a retard to actually try and smuggle drugs that way.

What happens if you do lock your bag? Are you asked to take the locks off? I travel to Asia every month – there is NO way I would travel and not lock my bag.

Originally posted by Opus
Didnt Australia donate like One Bil to Indonesia after the tsunami .

Yes we did, but it has nothing to do with what happened yesterday and sadly people down here are now calling charities to which they donated money to assist the Indonesian tsunami victims and asking for there money back..