Network Against Prohibition (NAP) - NT Chapter

Free Schapelle Corby

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org

Pubdate: 24th February 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Email: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Copyright: The Sydney Morning Herald 2005

Legal team flies to defend Corby

An Australian legal team flew to Bali on Thursday to help defend accused Gold Coast drug trafficker Schapelle Corby.

Funded by Gold Coast mobile phone entrepreneur Ron Bakir, the plan is to guarantee Corby's Indonesian lawyers get all the Australian assistance they need to prove the origin of drugs found in Corby's possession.

Corby, who proclaims her innocence, is accused of smuggling 4.1 kilograms of cannabis leaf and heads into Bali's Denpasar Airport in her boogie board bag last October.

She faces the death penalty if convicted.

Criminal lawyer Robin Tampoe, who accompanied Mr Bakir, said there were serious anomalies in statements
made about Corby's travel movements before she arrived in Bali.

"Some of the key evidence relates to what happened prior to her arriving in Indonesia," he told the Gold Coast Bulletin newspaper before he left for Bali.

"At the moment, because of a ridiculous lack of co-operation from the Australian government, we haven't had those questions answered.

"My role will be to ensure that everything is tied up at the Australian end."

Mr Bakir said Corby had the right to a fair trial and he was just glad to have the means to assist.

"Let me make it clear that I am totally against drugs," he said.

"But this is a 27-year-old woman who says she is innocent. The bottom line is she deserves every help to produce the evidence to counter the charges."



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: 25th February 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Email: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Copyright: The Sydney Morning Herald 2005

Corby needs more help: Democrats

The federal government should be doing more to ensure Gold Coast woman Schapelle Corby gets a fair trial in Bali, the Australian Democrats said.

Corby is accused of smuggling more than 4kg of cannabis onto the island last October - an offence which carries the death penalty.

Democrats justice spokesman Brian Greig said the federal government should be doing more for Corby instead of picking and choosing which Australian citizens, who find themselves in trouble overseas, it decides to help.

Senator Greig said while it was good news Gold Coast entrepreneur Ron Bakir had sponsored a legal team to help Corby, it was a sad indictment on the government such aid had to come from the private sector.

"Here is a young Australian who is facing the death penalty if she is convicted of these charges," Senator Greig said.

"The government should be taking every step possible to ensure that she receives a fair trial and if the worst occurs, that she is not executed.

"Instead, it has been left to a well-meaning private individual to send legal help to do what the government should be doing."

Senator Greig said in cases where the death penalty was at stake, there was an even more urgent need for the government to provide assistance.

Lawyers for Corby, who proclaims her innocence, have argued there were serious anomalies in statements about her travel movements before arriving in Bali, which the Australian government could help clear up.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: 3rd March 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Email: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Copyright: The Sydney Morning Herald 2005

Corby could die in jail, says friend

Accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby was being railroaded through court without a fair trial while the Australian government did nothing to stop it, a Gold Coast businessman said.

Ron Bakir, who heads mobile phone empire Crazy Ron's, said Corby was an innocent woman who would die in a Bali jail if the current miscarriage of justice was allowed to continue.

Corby denies allegations she smuggled 4.1 kg of cannabis leaf and heads into Bali's Denpasar Airport in her boogie board bag last October.

Mr Bakir, who arrived back on Thursday from visiting Corby in a Bali jail, had flown to the Indonesian island with criminal lawyer Robin Tampoe on a mercy mission to protect the 27-year-old's rights.

"There's a girl on death row here, she might be killed - I don't think they (the government) understand the importance of it," Mr Bakir said.

He said he believed Corby was innocent and he urged the Australian public to reserve their judgment until they heard all the facts.

"You need to see the facts, you need to hear the evidence, because once you do you will never believe this girl is guilty," said Mr Bakir, who is helping to fund Corby's defence.

He said although Corby's case hinged on determining the origin of the cannabis found in her boogie board bag, the Australian government had failed to order a DNA test on the drugs.

A spokesman for foreign minister Alexander Downer today denied the accusations, saying the Australian Federal Police had offered assistance to the Indonesian police with testing but the offer had been declined.

The spokesman said the matter was before the Indonesian court and needed to be dealt with by the defence under the legal processes in Indonesia.

"We are providing intense consular assistance in this case as we do to all manner of Australians who get in trouble overseas," he said.

Mr Bakir said Corby was holding up well and was trying to remain positive.

The trial has been adjourned until March 17.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: 3rd March 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Author: Philip Cornford
Email: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Copyright: The Sydney Morning Herald 2005

Accused drug smuggler grasps for day in court

For Schapelle Corby anything is better than being in her cell, writes Philip Cornford.

She calls it the cage, and it is. Schapelle Corby's brief glimpses of freedom are through prison bars and they are traumatic. Yet they are precious.

In the sweltering heat of the cage, she strips off her sweat-soaked shirt, beneath which she wears a sleeveless halter, also wet with perspiration, baring her shoulders and arms. To cool her neck, she pulls her damp hair into a bun.

Behind her, the eyes of 22 men glimmer in the shadow of the overcrowded cell, staring. Among them are violent criminals, on trial, as she is. Corby, 27, is the only woman, they are fascinated, and worse. They cannot look away.

She does her best to ignore them and they give her space. To avoid the media people who press against the bars, calling questions, she moves to a corner where she is out of sight. But they poke cameras through the bars. Bright flashes tear into the darkness. She is photographed, anyway.

The cage is the holding cell at Denpasar District Court, where Corby is on trial, accused of smuggling 4.1 kilograms of marijuana, an offence that carries the death penalty.

It is cooler than Krobokan prison, a vermin-infested hellhole. And the van that brought her on the 20-minute ride to court, crowded with the men. There is no room for segregation. Handcuffed hands clutch the bars of the tiny windows, a prisoner trying to catch a breeze.

Corby emerges last, handcuffed to a woman warder. Once it was to another woman prisoner, who was terrified by what followed, and when she found sanctuary in the cell, sat weeping into a ragged and filthy towel, her humiliation complete.

Corby has learnt to be stoic. She has remarkably blue eyes, which she keeps downcast. During the 25-metre walk to the holding cell the media press against her, blocking her path, cameras and microphones thrust into her face, questions shouted: a wild, uncontrolled melee.

Once Corby stumbles and the woman warder almost goes down with her. It is only the media press that stops them falling. Her sister, Mercedes, 30, who takes her food every day, is aghast: "It's disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting."

A few minutes later, it starts all over again, when Corby is taken to the court. This has to be seen to be believed. Photographers crowd behind the three judges, poking lenses past their ears to get front-on snaps of Corby facing the court.

Each time witnesses approach the bench to examine evidence, reporters and their interpreters crowd them, poking tape recorders into their faces. Cameras flash at will. It is more like a railway station than a court.

Then Corby has to brave the melee again, on her way back to the cells. But there follows a time of rare quiet while she waits until the other prisoners are finished in court.

She can talk to her family, her lawyers. It is spacious and clean compared with the cell she shares with eight women at grim Krobokan. They are never released for exercise. They see only walls and bars.

To snatch a few moments of privacy, Corby goes to church three times a week. There, "if I need to cry, then I can without any interruptions", she told Woman's Day.

Corby has run the gauntlet five times. After two weeks of confinement in Krobokan, she cannot wait to run it again when her lawyers open her defence today.

It will be an ordeal; it will be traumatic and humiliating. But she can look out through the bars and  see the sky, and to everyone, the sky symbolises freedom.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: 4th March 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au
Email: comments@your.abc.net.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Corby could be forced to take stand

A Gold Coast student facing drug trafficking charges could have to take the stand herself in two weeks time, after a Bali court refused to recognise several defence witnesses.

Schapelle Corby's defence team had planned to call a variety of witnesses from Australia - from baggage handlers at Sydney Airport to a body language expert and a psychologist.

However the court is refusing to issue a summons for the witnesses.

The 27-year-old student faces a possible death penalty if found guilty of trafficking more than four kilograms of marijuana into Bali in her bodyboard bag.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: 4th March 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Email: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Copyright: The Sydney Morning Herald 2005

Friends say no drugs in Corby's bag before flight

Schapelle Corby's boogie board bag contained no marijuana when she left Australia for Bali last October, her travelling partners told a Balinese court yesterday.

Alyth McComb, a Gold Coast bartender who has known Corby for four years, told Denpasar District Court that Corby had packed her boogie board bag in front of her three travelling partners and her mother on the morning of her flight to Bali.

McComb said she handed a pair of flippers to Corby as she packed in a room with another friend, Katrina Richards and Corby's younger brother James Kisina - who was also joining the holiday to Bali.

Corby peeled open the boogie board bag and placed the flippers on top of the board inside. It was clear to all that there was nothing else inside the bag, McComb said.

Corby, 27, faces the death penalty. She was charged with drug smuggling after Indonesian customs officers allegedly found 4.1kg of cannabis leaf and heads inside her boogie board bag when she arrived at Bali airport.

The Gold Coast beauty student claims someone must have planted the pillow case-sized stash in her luggage somewhere between Brisbane and Sydney airports.

Her lawyers today launched their defence case with testimony from her three travelling partners and an expert witness.

Before the hearing began, around 15 protesters from an anti-narcotics organisation called GRANAT turned up with placards and demanded Corby be sentenced to death if convicted of drug trafficking.

Verging on tears, McComb testified that Corby had never dealt in or used drugs.

"If anything she's against drugs," McComb said.

She said there was no chance for anyone to slip anything in Corby's bag before they checked in at Brisbane airport, the last time they saw their luggage before Bali.

"She (Corby) was with me the whole time on the plane and we didn't see the bags on the plane and we didn't
see them in Sydney," where they were in transit for two to three hours, she said.

In separate testimony, Kisina and Richards supported McComb's version of events.

Kisina, who along with Corby was taken to a small room at the airport for questioning, also rejected claims by customs officers that Corby ever admitted owning the marijuana.

"Customs officers asked her: 'What is it?' And, Schapelle said: 'I don't know," he told the three-judge panel.

He also supported claims by Corby that she voluntarily opened the bag and never tried to stop customs officers from doing so.

Earlier, a lawyer who had helped draft Indonesia's tough drug laws was asked in court if someone could be convicted of importing an illegal substance if they did not know it was in their luggage.

"If there was no intention (to import) and if she was used by others, then she should be freed," University of Indonesia Professor Loebby Lukman said.

However, he later said Corby's case could be considered importing.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 4th March 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

Downer to intervene in Corby drug case

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will personally intervene in the case of Gold Coast woman Schapelle Corby, who could face the death penalty over drugs charges in Indonesia.

Corby, 27, denies charges she smuggled 4.1 kg of cannabis into Bali's Denpasar Airport in her unlocked boogie board bag in October last year.

Last month anti-drug protesters stormed her Bali court hearing, demanding her execution for the alleged crime.

Corby's lawyers have complained the federal government has not done enough to help their client.

Lawyer Vasu Rasiah said Corby was under a lot of strain.

"Some days she's good, some days she's bad, and some days she's worse," the ABC website reported him as saying.

"She can't understand why she's being held there and she's mystified why her country can't do anything.

"They might as well put the girl against the wall and shoot (her) themselves."

Mr Downer insists the authorities were willing to help in any way they could.

"Other than providing consular assistance ... the best we can do is if her defence comes up with more ideas for information, if we can assist to obtain that information, we would always try to do that," he said.

Mr Downer intends to meet Corby's lawyers very soon.

"We are concerned about this case and we are following it very closely," he told ABC radio in Sydney.

"I'm meeting with her lawyers ... I think it's next week or the week after, to talk through some more."

Prime Minister John Howard also indicated a personal interest in case.

"I have taken a personal interest in the sense that I have been concerned on the face of it, about some aspects of it," he told Sydney radio 2GB.

But he stressed the Australian government could not interfere with the judicial process in Indonesia.

"I choose my words very carefully because I have to respect the legal system of another country," Mr Howard said.

Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, too, had concerns about the case.

However, he placed his faith in Indonesian justice.

"I hope that the judicial system will keep her well," he said.

Corby's lawyers are keen for baggage handlers from Brisbane or Sydney airports to testify about the state of her luggage before it arrived in Indonesia, as well as an absence of appropriate security.

Mr Downer cast doubt on whether they could provide any reasonable evidence.

"I think Qantas concluded that several bags had been put on the scales at once rather than just one bag," he said.

"So it was impossible to make any judgments about the weight of any particular bag."

Indonesian authorities previously turned down an offer from Australian police to test the cannabis found in Corby's luggage, saying they were capable of conducting  the tests themselves.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 4th March 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

Corby's 'trauma is immense', says PM

Prime Minister John Howard today said he was concerned about some aspects of the case of accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby in the Indonesian courts.

Corby denies allegations she smuggled 4.1 kg of cannabis leaf and heads into Bali's Denpasar Airport in her boogie board bag last October.

Mr Howard said he did not know the truth of the matter.

He had been advised that the case was being conducted in accordance with Indonesian court and legal procedures and was following the case, he said.

"I've taken a personal interest in the sense that I have been concerned on the face of it about some aspects of it," Mr Howard told radio 2GB.

"I choose my words very carefully because I have to respect the legal system of another country."

However, Mr Howard said he sympathised with Corby irrespective of whether she was guilty or otherwise, which was as yet unknown.

"The strain and physical distress, mental trauma is immense," he said.

The government was aware of its obligations and would do everything it could to advocate her interest.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 04 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

Rudd goes in to bat for alleged drug smuggler

The Federal Opposition's foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, says he has tried to help the legal team of a Gold Coast woman accused of drug trafficking in Bali.

Lawyers for Schapelle Corby say she believes the Government is not doing enough to help her.

Corby, 27, has pleaded not guilty to importing four kilograms of marijuana.

Mr Rudd says after speaking to Corby's lawyers late last year, he wrote to the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister asking them to help ensure Corby received a fair trial.

"I particularly requested the Howard Government to assist Ms Corby's legal team on evidentiary matters which may be important to them," he said.

"But I emphasise that we from this distance are in no position whatsoever to judge the innocence or guilt of this particular person."

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says the Federal Government is doing what it can to help Corby.

Mr Downer says Indonesian police rejected the Government's request for federal police to test the drugs to determine their source.

He says a request by Corby's lawyers for information about the weight of her bag when she boarded the plane to Bali also proved of no use.

"Let me make this point perfectly clear, we're happy to help in any way we reasonably can but of course we can't interfere with the court processes in Bali," Mr Downer said.

Legal aid

Next week, Mr Downer will discuss the case with Gold Coast businessman Ron Bakir, who is funding extra legal help for Corby.

Mr Bakir says the Government does not understand the seriousness of the case.

"That's why this girl is still sitting in a Bali cell," he said.

"Nobody understands the importance of this case, I hope that they now do and they do something about it."

Earlier today, both Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said they were concerned by some aspects of Corby's trial.

Mr Howard said Australia will do everything it can to help her.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sat, 5th March 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Author: Philip Cornford
Copyright: 2005 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

Weighing the evidence

It started as a tropical holiday with family and friends, but if the worst scenario unfolds it will end in front of a firing squad. Philip Cornford uncovers many more questions than answers.

Brisbane Airport October 8, 2004

There is this moment in Schapelle Corby's life, before it plunged into chaos, when the world seemed wonderful, life was an exciting adventure, and what was to come was just not conceivable, beyond the imagining of any traveller. It was caught in a
photograph, and it was the last time that a camera was to be kind to Corby.

The photograph was taken by her mother, Ros, after Corby, 27, and her three companions had been cleared to board QF501, the first of two flights which took her from a crisp Brisbane mid-spring dawn of Friday, October 8, to the sultry humidity of Bali. Instead of the luxury of an air-conditioned hotel, Corby was taken to a squalid prison, where her life is in the balance.

The picture shows four happy travellers: Katrina Richards, 17, a pre-school kindergarten teacher who works part-time at the Corby family fish and chip shop on the Gold Coast; Corby; Ally McComb, 25, a friend of four years and former flatmate; and Corby's brother, James, 16, at the time a year 11 student.

They are carefree, relieved. Getting to the airport on time was a rush. Now they are on their way to Bali, and the photograph records their elation.

"We were all so excited," McComb recalled. "We'd worked hard and saved all year. I stopped going out. It was my first trip to Bali."

For Richards, it was the first time she would be away from home. "I'd never flown before," she said. James had been to Bali once before, when he was nine, for the wedding of his sister, Mercedes, to a Balinese man.

Corby had visited Bali many times. She had married a Japanese man and worked in Japan in the hospitality industry for four years. The visits to Bali were stopovers on the way to and from Japan to see Mercedes, her elder sister. The last trip was in July 2000 when Corby came back to Australia after the break-up of her marriage.

She worked in the hospitality industry on the Gold Coast. In 2003 she did a part-time TAFE course in beauty therapy, finishing two of four modules. She skipped TAFE last year, working at the fish and chip shop and helping to care for her father, Michael, 55, a retired coalminer who has cancer.

Unknown to the travellers, other cameras watched their movements. These were the closed circuit television security cameras that monitor the Qantas check-in counters. At 5.33am they observed Corby and her companions when they presented their luggage: three suitcases and a boogie board in its carrying bag.

The boogie board belonged to Corby. She had packed it at her mother's Brisbane home, where the travellers slept the night. When they were about to leave, Ally McComb remembered the flippers she had borrowed from Corby. She gave them to Corby as the bags were loaded into her mother's car in the garage for the journey to the airport.

Corby unzipped the boogie board bag and put the flippers inside. McComb, Richards and James Corby testified in Denpasar Local Court on Thursday, the first day of the defence case, that the garage was brightly lit and they clearly saw that the yellow boogie board was the only object in the bag before the flippers were put in.

Twelve hours later, when the bag was opened at Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar, it was found to contain the boogie board, flippers - and 4.1 kilograms of top-quality hydroponic marijuana in two plastic bags, one inside the other, the size of a pillow case, placed in front of the boogie board next to the opening flap. It was the local customs officers' biggest marijuana intercept. Within 24 hours, the local media had dubbed Corby the "Ganja Queen". "They think she's beautiful," an interpreter said. "They're fascinated."

Shocked, at times tearful, Corby said she had never seen the marijuana before. She insisted it must have been inserted in her luggage during transit. So any video images showing the boogie board bag's size and shape while it was in Corby's care were important. Her defence lawyers asked for them. But the closed circuit TV at the Brisbane Qantas check-in was experiencing problems and any images recorded that morning were wiped 25 days later.

The weights of the bags were not individually recorded but together they totalled 65 kilograms. The four bags were recorded in Corby's name, the four tags clipped onto her boarding pass cover. The weight of these bags when they were checked in and their weight on arrival in Bali was crucial evidence to test Corby's claim. In Bali, customs and police ignored it.

Sydney Airport Later that morning

At 6am, the travellers flew to Sydney, arriving 90 minutes later. Their bags were taken by baggage handlers to Bay 5 at the Qantas domestic terminal, where they were loaded onto a trolley for transfer to the international terminal. When there was a full load for Australian Airlines flight AO7829 to Bali they were hauled two kilometres to Pier B at the international airport, where handlers scanned them to check they had been cleared for their scheduled flight. The three suitcases went through the security X-ray and onto a conveyor which delivered them to the loading bay in Pier C designated for AO7829.

The boogie board, however, was too big for the conveyor. It was put on a trolley, hauled to Pier C and then, at 8.18am, put into a baggage canister, DQF60342QF, which contained two of the other bags. Its loading sequence was 70, making it one of the last items put into the canister, placing it near the front. It would be one of the first bags taken out when the canister was unloaded in Bali.

The canister was closed by a canvas flap but not locked. It was held at Pier C for 97 minutes until half an hour before the Bali flight's departure.

All the baggage transfers in Brisbane, at Bay 5 in Sydney and at Piers B and C at the international terminal were monitored by closed-circuit cameras. There are no other security measures - all are big, open areas accessible to anyone with an "airside" security pass.

Not one of the security camera tapes recorded in these areas on the morning of October 8 was checked for images of the boogie board or for any unauthorised approach to the boogie board. The images recorded by the Qantas security cameras were wiped after a month, those on the cameras at Piers B and C, controlled by the Sydney Airports Corporation, after 72 hours. Thus Corby's lawyers were denied evidence which might have proved her innocence.

There are no inspections of bags or vehicles to check what staff with Aviation Security Identification Cards carry in and out of the airport.

Federal police say "it is a recognised criminal activity" for drug dealers to use innocent travellers as unsuspecting "mules". They have arrested baggage handlers at Sydney Airport for the offence. Drugs are inserted in luggage at one airport and a photograph of the target bag and its tag are emailed to the destination airport, where baggage handlers recover the drugs before the passenger collects the bag.

Corby's defence illuminates a terrifying reality which can have calamitous consequences. She faces death by a firing squad if convicted.

Ngurah Rai Airport, Denpasar The holiday begins

After a seven-hour flight, they landed in Bali about 2.30pm local time, stepping out of an air-conditioned cocoon into what seemed like a steam bath.

Spirits were high. Now all the travellers had to do was collect their bags and take a taxi to their hotel, where they had pre-paid rooms and Mercedes would be waiting.

After their bags were unloaded from the canister they passed through an X-ray machine before moving onto the baggage carousel.

By the time Corby's party got through security and immigration, their bags were on the carousel. But not the boogie board. It had been set apart on the floor. Corby was struggling with her bag, so McComb told James to help his sister with the boogie board. Together, they took it to the customs counters where they would exit.

There they were stopped by a customs officer, Igusti Ngurah Nyoman Winata.

There are conflicting accounts of what happened next. Corby says she saw that people ahead had their bags on the counter and were opening them. So she put the boogie board on the counter and began to open it.

February 2005 Denpasar District Court

Winata was the first witness called by the prosecution when Corby's trial opened last month in the Denpasar District Court, the equivalent of an Australian Supreme Court. Winata testified that when he told Corby to open the bag, she instead opened a front pocket, saying "Nothing in there." He again ordered her to open the main flap. "The suspect [appeared] to panic. When I opened the bag a little, she stopped me and said, 'No.' I asked why. She answered, 'I have some ...' She looked confused."

Winata said he opened the bag and saw the flippers, the plastic bags with the marijuana and the boogie board. "I asked the suspect what was in the plastic bags. She said it was marijuana. I asked her, 'How do you know?' She said, 'I smelled it when you opened the bag."' A second customs officer supported his testimony.

Asked for her response in court, Corby got to her feet and angrily declared: "He's lying." In a strong voice, she said: "I opened the bag at the customs counter. He did not ask me. I opened it myself. I saw a plastic bag inside. It had been half opened." Corby made a gesture of recoiling. "Oh! The smell!" She repeated the denial several times.

Winata testified that Schapelle and James Corby were taken to an interview room, where the contents of the boogie bag were removed in front of Corby, who identified each item, including the drug bag, as belonging to her. Corby denied this several times.'Never, ever. Never.'

James testified on Thursday that the customs officer had ordered him to carry the boogie board to the interview room while Corby remained outside. Corby had not been present when the customs officer ordered James to remove the drug bag, which he did. Corby said the bag was on the floor when she was taken into the room. She recoiled in shock.

When McComb was allowed to join them about half an hour later, she saw it on the floor. "Oh, my God," she said, appalled.

The marijuana was in a brand-named Space Bag, which has a nozzle through which air is extracted, compacting the load. Photographs taken by customs officers at the airport clearly show that this bag was inserted upside down into another Space Bag. Other photographs show customs officers handling the marijuana through the bottom of the internal bag.

Yet for some reason, the customs officers - when questioned by the defence - denied opening the boogie board bag after the X-ray machine detected the drugs, and denied inspecting the drugs and then zipping the bag shut again.

But Corby said the bag had been unzipped and zipped shut. She indicated how the two zips now met in the middle, whereas she always zipped it shut from right bottom to left bottom with a single zip.

Questioned by Corby's lawyers, Winata denied that customs officers had slit open the internal drug bag before Corby collected the boogie board. Her lawyers, who inspected the bag, said it had been partly cut open by a blunt instrument, perhaps a key.

When the bags were presented in court, four months after Corby's arrest, the internal bag was instantly noticeable because the bottom was sealed with black tape.

Asked to show the position of the drugs bag when he found it, Winata placed it upright in the outside bag, with the taped end down - reversing the positions shown by the customs photographs. Questioned by defence lawyers, he insisted he had not made a mistake.

Winata might not have been aware of the photographs. But the prosecutor, Ida Bagus Nyoman Wiswantanu, was. They are contained in the brief of evidence submitted by police. He did not question Winata's answers.

Holes in the argument

From the outset, the customs officers neglected four basic investigative procedures.

They handled the outside drug bag with unprotected hands, taking no precautions against contaminating the only item of evidence. They handled the bottom of the internal bag when they took out the marijuana.

First McComb and then Mercedes, when she got to the airport interview room, protested, demanding the bags be fingerprinted. They got the same reply. "Too late. Too many people have touched them." Mercedes said she replied: "Well, stop it right now." They laughed at her.

But Corby's lawyer, Lily Sri Rahaya Lubis, and her assistant, Vasu Rasiah, insist that most of the bag that actually contained the drugs was still clean because it had not been removed from the external bag. Only the bottom of the internal bag had been handled.

The fingerprint evidence is basic and important. If Corby's prints are on either bag, she is condemned. But if they are not, it is strong evidence for the defence, although not conclusive. Corby told the lawyers to press hard. "They won't find my fingerprints," she said.

In late December, almost three months after Corby's arrest and after repeated requests to have the evidence fingerprinted, the lawyers confronted the director of the Bali narcotics bureau, Senior Commissioner Bambang Sugiarto, who was in charge of the investigation.

Sugiarto had the bags brought to his office in Lubis's presence. "He confirmed the inside bag had not been removed. He said he would have it fingerprinted," Lubis said. But still it was not done.

She says the bag remained uncontaminated when it went to the prosecutor with other evidence on January 6.

But that changed on February 3, when Corby made her second court appearance. In front of the three judges, the internal drug bag was taken out of the external bag and handled freely by a number of court officials, including customs officer Winata, prosecutor Wiswantanu and assistant judge I Gusti Lanang Dauh.

At the close of court that day, the frustrated defence lawyers made a formal application to have the bags fingerprinted. Chief Judge Linton Sirait said he would consider it. "There's still plenty of time," he said. Two court sittings later, the lawyers are still waiting for his decision. Even now, they insist, it is not too late.

A second basic procedure was overlooked at the airport. Two hours after Corby was detained, customs were aware that there were four baggage tags in her name. The bags were only a few metres away, with Katrina Richards, who was anxiously guarding them.

The moment Corby claimed that the marijuana had been put into boogie board bag during transit, the weight of the bags became crucial evidence. If the bags weighed 4.1 kilograms - the weight of the marijuana - more in Bali than they did in Brisbane when they were checked in, then she was telling the truth. If the weights were the same, she was lying.

No attempt was made to search or weigh the bags, even though Corby demanded it. Later, when Corby had lawyers, it was too late. The bags had left the airport. The prosecution made no mention of this or of the failure to take fingerprints.

The third overlooked procedure is even more basic. The customs area at Ngurah Rai Airport is monitored by closed circuit cameras, which observed Corby's actions. They could corroborate or contradict her account. But the prosecutor said they were not checked. The defence has asked to see the tapes. The prosecutor said he would check to see if they were available.

There was a fourth failure. The X-ray machine that detected the marijuana is not equipped to take photographs. So no image was available to show the location of the marijuana in the boogie board bag before it got to customs.

The prosecution closed its case on February 17. It relies entirely on indisputable evidence that the marijuana was found in Corby's boogie board bag and on the contested testimony of two customs officers and two police officers about her actions and responses.

Winata's English-language proficiency was not established and will be challenged. Corby insists her responses were misunderstood. She says his English was not good and they had difficulty understanding each other. McComb, who also spoke to Winata that day, says the same.

Thursday, March 3

The defence begins Corby's lawyers have a number of points to make in the defence case, which opened on Thursday.

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

Why did she not take another obvious precaution and put the drugs behind the boogie board, which would have concealed them from anyone opening the bag? Instead, they were in front of the boogie board, visible the moment the bag was opened.

Why did she not try to conceal the contents of the plastic bags by giving them a protective wrapping? Instead, the marijuana is easily visible through clear plastic.

Why would anyone risk a death sentence smuggling marijuana from Australia to Bali, where it will sell for much less than they could get in Australia? This is not only the biggest marijuana importation into Bali intercepted by customs. It is the only one.

Where is the police evidence that Corby or any of her family had connections with drug traffickers? Bali police say they investigated her "network" in Bali - meaning Mercedes and her husband - but found nothing incriminating.

The Australian Federal Police confirm Corby has no criminal record. Queensland police have no intelligence to connect her to drugs. The wholesale price for good quality hydroponic marijuana in Brisbane is $4000 for half a kilogram. Where did a woman who works in a fish and chip shop get the money to buy 4.1kilograms?

The defence will argue that the marijuana was put in the boogie board bag in Brisbane by a corrupt employee with "airside" access, most likely for pick-up in Sydney, where the street price is $65,000, by another corrupt worker with access. But the pick-up was somehow missed - tight security, watchful baggage handlers, bad timing - and the marijuana travelled on to Bali. Or it is possible, the defence will argue, that the drugs were placed in the wrong bag on the wrong flight.

They will argue that the positioning of the marijuana in front of the boogie board indicates it was inserted in haste during transit.

They will argue that whoever planted the drugs was responsible for changing the zipper arrangement, zipping the bag from both sides, meeting in the middle. And that when customs opened and shut the boogie board bag, they carefully repeated this procedure to conceal their intrusion.

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

Any chance of getting that evidence has gone. The security camera tapes which might have helped - the prosecution as well as the defence - have been wiped. The luggage was not weighed in Bali.

Qantas says the tapes were wiped on November 2, two weeks before they received a letter from the lawyers officially requesting copies. After the letter, dated November 16, Qantas got forensic experts to see if any images could be recovered but this was not successful.

But Corby's lawyers say their first request for the tapes was made on October 14, six days after Corby's arrest, and was repeated a number of times.

The lawyers say that in the last week of October, the Qantas security official told them the tapes were going to be destroyed within a week. On October 28, they sent the security official an email, noting this, and requesting copies of the tapes before they were wiped. This did not happen.

Prosecutor Wiswantanu is demanding the death penalty. He has successfully prosecuted six foreigners for importing drugs. One of them got the death penalty. Corby is fighting for her life.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sat, 5th March 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Author: Steve Burrell
Copyright: 2005 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

Howard fears for justice in Corby drug case

The Prime Minister, John Howard, says he is concerned about the way the case against accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby is being handled in the Indonesian courts.

The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, is also set to meet Corby's lawyers in the next two weeks to discuss the case but has ruled out directly intervening in the court processes in Bali.

Corby, 27, denies charges that she smuggled 4.1 kilograms of cannabis into Bali's Denpasar airport in her boogie-board bag last October.

The charges, being heard by the Denpasar District Court, carry the death penalty.

"The advice I have had so far is that it is being conducted in accordance with Indonesian legal and court procedures," Mr Howard told radio 2GB.

"I've taken a personal interest in the sense that I have been concerned on the face of it about some aspects of it.

"The Government is aware of its obligations and we'll continue to follow the case to the extent that we can, consistent with the right of Indonesia to run its justice system, we will do everything we can to advocate her interests."

There has been widespread criticism of the conditions under which Corby is being held in Bali's Krobokan prison and of the conduct of the case itself.

Mr Howard said he felt sympathy for the Gold Coast beauty student. "I sympathise with the person and with anybody, irrespective of guilt or otherwise ... There's the strain and physical distress; [the] mental trauma is immense," he said.

With the Government facing criticism from Corby's lawyers for not doing enough to help their client, Mr Downer said it was providing as much consular and other assistance as it could.

"We are happy to help in any way that we reasonably can but, of course, we can't interfere with the court processes in Bali," he told ABC radio in Sydney.

Mr Downer said Corby's lawyers had already asked him to have the Australian Federal Police test the cannabis allegedly carried by her into Bali to establish its origins.

However, the Indonesian police have refused to hand over any of the cannabis to be tested, saying they can do it themselves.

Mr Downer said it was legitimate to question why Corby would take the marijuana - which was worth an estimated $40,000 on the street in Australia - to Bali, where the drug was much cheaper to buy.

The Opposition foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, said he had also been approached for help by Corby's lawyers and had written to Mr Downer and the Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, seeking their aid.

One of Corby's lawyers, Vasu Rasiah, yesterday said it was vital that airport staff from Sydney or Brisbane give evidence.

"The baggage handlers' union [said] that Sydney Airport has no security. We want them to come and testify here," he said.

Corby's travelling partners told the court this week that her boogie-board bag contained no marijuana when she left Australia for Bali last October.

Corby claims someone must have planted the pillow case-sized bag of marijuana in her luggage somewhere between the Brisbane and Sydney airports.

Her lawyers opened her defence on Thursday but the case will not resume until March 17.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 09 March 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Author: Doc Holiday
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/

Support for Corby a must

PLEASE correct me if I am wrong, on a point of law, Indonesian style.

If a person plots and gives his blessing to bombing a nightclub where more than 200 people are killed, as Muslim Cleric Abu Bakar Bashir did, the sentence is 2½ years imprisonment.

Yet if you are falsely accused and convicted of trying to smuggle 4.1kg of cannabis into the country the penalty is death.

In my opinion, this is ludicrous. After doing a little research I have determined that 4.1kg of cannabis in Indonesia is worth a little over $1000. If you were to sell it in Australia it would be worth more than $250,000.

Prime Minister John Howard stated on Sydney radio he is concerned about “some aspects” of the Schapelle Corby case.

Corby should get all the Australian legal help possible, guilty or innocent, as she is a Australian citizen, and should have received that assistance right from the start.

A fair trial with truthful evidence is all we are asking.

Doc Holiday
Millner



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 16 March 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

AFP accused of not assisting Corby lawyers

An Indonesian court has given lawyers an extra week to gather information for the defence of a Gold Coast woman accused of drug trafficking in Bali.

Businessman Ron Bakir, who is funding extra legal support for Corby, says the Australian Federal Police has not responded to his team's repeated requests.

Schapelle Corby's hearing was due to resume tomorrow but it has been adjourned.

She has been accused of taking more than four kilograms of marijuana into Bali and has denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Bakir says his team is still waiting for vital information from the Australian Federal Police and Qantas.

"We have asked that the Australian Federal Police come forward and give evidence or give us some sort of discussions, they have given us absolutely nothing," he said.

"I don't think they understand the importance of this case - that the girl's life is at stake and her life is in their hands.

"Names of baggage handlers who took Ms Corby's bag, security processes in the terminals of Brisbane and Sydney and a number of other things that Qantas has said they are going to do and will do this morning."



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 16 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)
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Drugs planted, says Corby lawyer

The Indonesian lawyer for a Gold Coast woman being held in Bali on drug charges says he has evidence the drugs were planted.

Schapelle Corby, 27, is accused of trying to smuggle more than four kilograms of marijuana into Bali in her boogie board bag.

She denies the claims.

Her lawyer, Vasu Rosiah, says a man has made a statement linking the drugs to a known drug trafficker.

"He has put the name, he has put the associate's name, exact names," Mr Rosiah told ABC radio network Triple J.

"His statement says normally they put this stuff in Brisbane airport.

"It was supposed to be picked up at Sydney airport but because they put it in the wrong bag it went all the way to Bali."



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 16 Mar 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

Corby victim of smugglers ring: lawyers

Accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby was unknowingly used as a "mule" by organised interstate drug smugglers, her legal team said on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old Gold Coast beauty therapy student faces the death penalty if found guilty of the crime in a Bali court.

Gold Coast businessman Ron Bakir, who heads mobile phone empire Crazy Ron's and has come to the aid of Corby, said a man had come forward signing an affidavit naming three baggage handlers responsible for planting the drugs.

"The drugs were put into her bag without her knowledge, were supposed to be pulled out in Sydney and they were missed," Mr Bakir said.

Instead, the 4.1kg of cannabis travelled on to Bali, where it was discovered in Corby's boogie board bag at Bali's Denpasar Airport last October.

Ms Corby's lawyers on Wednesday night gave the ABC's 7.30 Report a summary of the evidence in the statement.

"A man whom we are not in a position to name has come forward and offered information by way of a sworn statement to the effect that he is aware of persons involved in domestic drug trafficking between Brisbane and Sydney," it said.

"Moreover, he is aware that these same persons, whom he has named, were responsible for planting 4.1kg of marijuana into Schapelle Corby's boogie board bag unbeknownst to her.

"The figurehead of this domestic drug trafficking ring is currently incarcerated for drug matters."

Mr Bakir said the unnamed man had offered the information to Corby's legal team with the message: "If I don't do this my conscience will haunt me."

He had also promised to testify in court on Corby's behalf.

Corby's Australian lawyer, Robin Tampoe, said the student was just one of a number of victims targeted by the gang.

Mr Bakir said the affidavit had been sent to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Wednesday.

Mr Bakir and criminal lawyer Robin Tampoe flew to Bali last month to meet Corby after complaining the federal government had not done enough to help her.

Speaking on behalf of Corby's legal team, Mr Bakir said the source and associates had been trying to make contact with the AFP over the past two or three months, to no avail, and had telephone recordings to prove their attempts.

A spokesman for Mr Downer's office said the affidavit was forwarded to the AFP because it dealt with crime within Australia.

Corby was not yet aware of Wednesday's developments, although one of her family members had been informed, he said.

Her lawyers were expected to seek an adjournment in her case if the trial resumes, as scheduled, on Thursday.

They hope to lodge the statement after the adjournment, which could be sometime later next week.

Mr Bakir and Corby's Indonesian lawyer, who arrived in Australia on Wednesday ahead of the developments, will return to Bali next Tuesday.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 16 Mar 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

New evidence to clear Corby of charges

Lawyers acting on behalf of accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby said they had evidence to clear her of the charges.

The Gold Coast beauty therapy student is fighting allegations she smuggled 4.1kg of cannabis into Bali's Denpasar Airport in her boogie board bag last October.

Corby, 27, faces the death penalty if found guilty of the charges.

Gold Coast businessman Ron Bakir, who heads mobile phone empire Crazy Ron's and has come to the aid of Corby, said he had sent a sworn statement from an unnamed source which clears her of all charges.

The statement was sent to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Wednesday, he said.

Mr Bakir and criminal lawyer Robin Tampoe flew to Bali last month to meet Corby after complaining the federal government had not done enough to help the young Australian woman.

Speaking on behalf of Corby's legal team, Mr Bakir said he had obtained a statement that cleared her of all charges.

"We have got a statement from a gentleman who has told us that Schapelle is not involved in this transaction whatsoever, and that Schapelle is a victim of Australian drug trafficking, and that Schapelle Corby doesn't know anything about this," Mr Bakir said.

"He has told us who the people responsible for this are, where they are, how they came into this, where the drugs were going to, how the drugs had got into her bag, they have named all these people."

Mr Bakir said over the past two or three months, the source and associates had been trying to make contact with the AFP, to no avail, and had telephone recordings to prove their attempts.

"The federal police have done nothing about it for the last three months," he said.

Mr Bakir said he had still not received any response from the AFP, despite sending the statement to them early on Wednesday.

Mr Downer's office had, however, been in constant contact over the matter.

"The problem is I don't think the AFP think this is an important matter because they have done nothing about it," Mr Bakir said.

"This girl has got five days before she goes to trial and will be executed (if found guilty).

"This information is crucial to her case."

Mr Bakir declined to provide further details of the statement, including the number of people alleged to have been involved in the planting of the drugs, but said they had all been named in the statement.

Mr Bakir said Corby was not yet aware of Wednesday's developments, although one of her family members had been informed.

The statement will be lodged in the Bali court on March 24, when Corby's case is due to be heard again after an adjournment was requested from Thursday's scheduled hearing.

Mr Bakir and Corby's Indonesian lawyer - who arrived in Australia on Wednesday ahead of the developments - will return to Bali next Tuesday.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thur, 17 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia
Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

AFP questions man over Corby drug plant claims

Australia Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty says officers are interviewing a prisoner who claims to know who put drugs in a Gold Coast woman's luggage.

Schapelle Corby, 27, is on trial in Bali after customs officials allegedly found more than four kilograms of marijuana in her boogie board bag and faces the death penalty if convicted.

Her Australian lawyers have a sworn statement from a man saying Ms Corby knew nothing about the drugs and the marijuana was part of a smuggling operation between Brisbane and Sydney airports.

The Federal Police say information from a prisoner, who claims to know who put marijuana in Corby's luggage, is based on hearsay and may not relate to her legal case in Bali.

Mr Keelty says the statement could relate to any case.

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

"So it's at best hearsay evidence."

Commissioner Keelty says he is not sure why her lawyer has released the information.

"Schapelle Corby's defence team need to provide her with the best opportunity to defend her case in the jurisdiction of Indonesia," he said.

"I think to parade any evidence in Australia beforehand doesn't serve her any justice, but can have the opposite impact, it can prejudice her case."

Meanwhile, Qantas says it has cooperated extensively with Corby's legal representatives and authorities in both Australia and Indonesia since it was first made aware of her arrest and will continue to assist.

A spokeswoman for Qantas says the airline has for many years conducted rigorous background checks in connection with relevant departments as part of its recruitment process.

She says the new allegations raised are a matter for the police and it is not appropriate for the airline to comment further.

A spokeswoman for Sydney Airport says, in relation to the alleged new evidence, that to its knowledge all the correct procedures were followed.

She says baggage handlers are controlled by the carriers.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thur, 17 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia
Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

Corby's trial adjourned amid new evidence claims

A court in Bali has adjourned the hearing of drugs charges against Gold Coast woman Schappelle Corby for a week, after her lawyers applied for extra time to present witnesses to the court.

Defence lawyers have confirmed they are hoping to call a new witness to give evidence that he planted more than four kilograms of marijuana in Corby's bag.

Lawyers told the court they would seek to admit a statement by a prisoner in Australia who, it is claimed, overhead an admission by another man that the drugs in Corby's bags were placed there as part of a trafficking operation within Australia.

The defence says it hopes to summons to the Denpasar court the man who allegedly placed the drugs in the bag.

Failing that, it hopes to provide the court with a statement from that person.

During the adjournment judges will consider whether members of Corby's family, who have been present at the trial, can give evidence.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd says after a request from Corby's legal team he has questioned the Indonesian ambassador about whether a legal way can be found for the potential new witness to appear.

"Our simple concern and the concern raised with us by the relevant legal team for Schappelle Corby has been simply to look at practical ways, legal ways by which such a witness could be able to provide evidence before the relevant Indonesian court," he said.

Positive thinking

Lely Lubis, who is a defence lawyer for Corby, says Corby is happy, but does not want to get her hopes up in case things do not work out.

"I told her to just keep positive thinking, be strong, because next week we're going to have witnesses," she said.

"If the time is still available, the judges will interview her at the same time."

The judges have indicated the trial will conclude in mid to late May.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thur, 17 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia
Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

Union seeks probe of Corby airport drug claim

The union representing airport baggage handlers is calling for an urgent investigation into claims an airport worker may have put marijuana into a boogie board bag owned by Gold Coast woman Schapelle Corby.

The defence team for Ms Corby, who is on trial in Bali on drugs charges, says a witness has come forward saying he knows who put the drugs in the woman's bag.

It is claimed the drugs were planted as part of a smuggling operation between Brisbane and Sydney airports.

In a signed statement that has now been sent to the Australian Federal Police, Corby's lawyers say the witness names names and offers corroborating accounts.

Hughie Williams from the Transport Workers Union says police should investigate the matter.

"If there's any truth in the evidence, well that's a matter for the police and a matter for the courts to deal with," he said.

"At the present time someone has made a very serious allegation on workers at the Brisbane airport and probably Sydney airports, members of the Transport Workers Union, and we want this matter cleared up as quickly as possible."

Federal police say they are studying the statement.

In a statement to the ABC, Corby's lawyers said: "A man, whom we are not in a position to name, has come forward and offered information by way of a sworn statement to the effect that he is aware of persons involved in domestic drug trafficking between Brisbane and Sydney.

"Moreover [he] is aware that these same persons, whom he has named, were responsible for planting 4.1 kilograms - approximately 10 pounds - of marijuana in Schapelle Corby's boogie board bag unbeknownst to her.

"The figurehead of this particular domestic drug trafficking ring is currently incarcerated for drug matters."



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thur, 17 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Reporter: Tanya Nolan
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

AM - Schapelle Corby defence team produces crucial new evidence

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1325571.htm]

AM - Thursday, 17 March , 2005 08:16:00
Reporter: Tanya Nolan

TONY EASTLEY: The defence team for the Gold Coast woman accused of trying to smuggle drugs into Indonesia, say they have strong new evidence to prove Schapelle Corby was the victim of an Australian drug trafficking ring.

In an 11th hour bid to convince Indonesian judges of her innocence, her lawyers have obtained a sworn affidavit from a man naming three Australian baggage handlers, whom he claims are responsible for planting four kilograms of marijuana in Ms Corby's luggage.

Tanya Nolan reports.

TANYA NOLAN: With the trial of 27-year-old Gold Coast woman Schapelle Corby in its final stages, her defence team says it has crucial new evidence to prove her innocence. Ms Corby is accused of trying to bring 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into Bali in October last year, but has always maintained the drugs were not hers.

Gold Coast businessman, Ron Bakir, who's been funding Ms Corby's defence, says he and his lawyer Robin Tampoe have obtained a sworn affidavit from a man, which proves Ms Corby's innocence.

Robin Tampoe.

ROBIN TAMPOE: Essentially, the statement has identified the person responsible for, well, a person responsible for drug trafficking, and this person has been responsible for the drugs being put into Schapelle's boogie board bag.

As we… as the statement reads, the bags were to be couriered from Brisbane to Sydney, and then to be removed from her bag in Sydney. She's effectively an unsuspecting "mule".

TANYA NOLAN: The source swears that the drugs were put into her bag without her knowledge and were supposed to be taken out in Sydney, but were missed.

Mr Tampoe says the affidavit names names, and the source is reliable.

ROBIN TAMPOE: There was no real reason for him to come forward. What is interesting about this fellow is that for some weeks now he'd been trying to get this information through to the Australian Federal Police, he had tried to do that, he couldn't get through to anyone who was prepared to listen to him or take him seriously.

So, the first thing he's done is go to the authorities with this information that he saw as very crucial, that this young lady's life's on the line, and that's why he has come forward.

TANYA NOLAN: The Australian Federal Police rejects that claim, and says it cannot find any record of this information being brought forward by any person.

But a spokeswoman has confirmed that the AFP was sent the affidavit late yesterday by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and says it will examine the information it may contain about general drug activity in Australia.

Ms Corby's defence team is preparing to seek an adjournment in her trial if it resumes today as scheduled.

TONY EASTLEY: Tanya Nolan reporting.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 18 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia
Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation

TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT

LOCATION:
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2005/s1326147.htm

Broadcast: 18/03/2005

AFP casts doubt over new evidence in Corby case

Reporter: Kirsten Murray

TONY JONES: Now to the case of Schapelle Corby, the Gold Coast woman who has been held in a Bali prison on drugs charges and the new evidence she hopes will set her free. Even before that evidence has been heard in court, there has been doubt cast on it. The Australian Federal Police today questioned the claims that Australian airport staff used Schapelle Corby's bags to smuggle drugs interstate and they say her lawyers should have saved their revelation for the trial.

Kirstin Murray reports.

KIRSTEN MURRAY: Schapelle Corby's legal team hopes a sworn affidavit from an Australian prisoner will be her 'get out of jail' card.

LELY LUBIS, DEFENCE LAWYER: If it is true, yeah, we come home.

SCHAPELLE CORBY: Yeah, of course I'm happy.

KIRSTEN MURRAY: Her Australian-based lawyers say they have a statement which proves she's innocent and when the case resumes in Bali next week, they'll argue corrupt airport baggage handlers are responsible for the four kilograms of marijuana found in her bag.

VASU RASIAH, GOLD COAST LAWYER: We have got some information and it conclusively says Schapelle is not involved. She's an innocent person who went into the airport and somebody planted.

KIRSTEN MURRAY: But legal representatives in Bali told the court they know who did it and want to summons a man currently serving a sentence in Australia to the Denpasar court. They say the information comes from a letter drafted by another prison inmate, who names several people who were allegedly trying to smuggle drugs from Brisbane to Sydney. But Federal Police are questioning the motives of the author and say the information is hearsay.

MICK KEELTY, FEDERAL POLICE COMMISSIONER: It does mention Corby, but only in the sense that the prisoner made the conclusion that is was connected to the Corby case and overheard other prisoners talking about the Corby case.

KIRSTEN MURRAY: But officers are taking allegations of an interstate drug smuggling network seriously, questioning the prisoner this afternoon. The union representing Qantas baggage handlers says while it's feasible, it should first be proven.

HUGHIE WILLIAMS, TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION STATE SECRETARY: I think it is very serious allegations and
we certainly don't like all our members coming under that sort of spotlight.

KIRSTEN MURRAY: The Federal Police Commissioner says the defence team has done Ms Corby no favours.

MICK KEELTY: To parade any evidence in Australia beforehand doesn't serve her any justice but can have the opposite impact.

KIRSTEN MURRAY: Her Gold Coast lawyer says the informant hadn't been taken seriously by police and he had no other choice but to go public.

VASU RASIAH: And instead of finding fault with the letter, finding fault with the witness, finding fault with the weather and everything else, why don't they get off the chair and do something?

HASSAN WIRAJUDA, INDONESIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The governments cannot interfere with the legal process.

KIRSTEN MURRAY: Schapelle Corby's legal team hopes to fly their new witness to Bali when the case resumes next Thursday.

Kirstin Murray, Lateline.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 18 March 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia
Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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Corby supporters meet police, Ruddock

Supporters of Shappelle Corby, who is standing trial in Bali on drug charges, have met federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock and representatives of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in Canberra.

A Denpasar court trying Schappelle Corby was yesterday told her legal team intends to call a witness to give evidence that he planted more than four kilograms of marijuana in her bag.

Gold Coast businessman Ron Bakir, who is helping to finance her legal counsel, says he has asked that a man who made a statement on the matter be allowed to give evidence in Indonesia.

Mr Bakir says the Government and the AFP say they will do everything they can to help.

"Whether it's hearsay or not it needs to be investigated and they did ensure us that it will be investigated," he said.

"They did tell us that they have spoken to the person, they've interviewed the person, they're back again this morning interviewing him.

"They're taking the matter very seriously and they will do everything in their power to ensure that this matter's investigated."



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Ruddock remains tightlipped over Corby evidence claims

Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says the Government is thoroughly investigating claims thatdrugs were planted in  Gold Coast woman Schapelle Corby's luggage in Australia.

Her trial on drugs charges resumes in Bali on Thursday, after more than four-kilograms of marijuana were found in her boogie board bag upon her arrival in Bali late last year.

Legal representatives for Ms Corby met Mr Ruddock in Canberra on Friday to brief him about evidence they say shows she is the victim of domestic drug smuggling.

Mr Ruddock has backed comments by the federal police commissioner that the claims are hearsay, although he says they are being closely examined.

"We are seeking to assist in identifying the people who provided the information - hearsay - to see whether or not we can get back to source and those are the matters that are of continuing inquiry," he said.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Tue, 22 March 2005
Source: Australian Associated Press (Australia)
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Corby's lawyers seek help from Queensland police

Accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby's legal team yesterday sought help from Queensland police to help them free the Gold Coast beauty therapist.

Corby, 27, faces the death penalty in Indonesia if found guilty of smuggling 4.1 kilograms of cannabis into Bali's Denpasar Airport last October.

Corby's lawyers last week successfully sought an adjournment of her case until this Thursday, after new evidence came to light which could prove her innocence.

The evidence backs claims by Corby's team that drugs were planted in her boogie board bag as part of a smuggling operation between Brisbane and Sydney airports.

The lawyers, financed by Gold Coast businessman Ron Bakir, have appealed to Australian authorities, including Queensland police, to testify before the Bali court.

Mr Bakir and Corby's Indonesian lawyer Vasu Rasiah met at police headquarters in Brisbane yesterday with several high-ranking Queensland officers, including Deputy Commissioner Dick Conder, seeking assistance in the case.

Mr Rasiah said the help of Queensland police was vital to Corby's case.

"The crime originated in Brisbane and that is where the answer will be," he said.

The meeting yesterday followed high-level talks with federal police officers and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock last Friday after Mr Bakir accused federal authorities of abandoning the woman.

In a statement, the Queensland Police Service (QPS) said several requests had been made of the QPS and would be considered.

"Deputy Commissioner Dick Conder is aware of time constraints faced by Ms Corby's defence team and has undertaken to respond to the requests as soon as possible," the statement said.



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Victorian prisoner may testify at Corby trial

The legal defence team for Schapelle Corby is hoping Indonesia will allow a Victorian prisoner to enter the country to testify at the Queensland woman's drugs trial.

The 27-year-old has been accused of taking four kilograms of marijuana into Bali.

She has denied any wrongdoing.

Gold Coast lawyer Robin Tampoe, who leaves for Bali today, says the Victorian prisoner's evidence will be crucial to show that Corby has been an innocent victim of Australian drug trafficking.

"We've got the consent of the Victorian Government and the consent of the Federal Government and we're just waiting on a letter to come through from Indonesia that they will accept him when he arrives there," Mr Tampoe said.

"We're pretty confident that will all happen."



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Indonesian calls for caution in Corby case

Indonesia says it cannot interfere in the trial of an Australian woman facing drugs charges in a Bali court.

Gold Coast woman Schapelle Corby is accused of smuggling more than four kilograms of marijuana into Bali and faces the death penalty if she is found guilty.

Corby's legal team has asked Indonesian authorities to allow an Australian prisoner to testify in her defence at the trial.

They say he can corroborate her statement that the drugs were planted and she is innocent.

The Indonesian Embassy in Canberra has released a statement saying a trial by media or insisting on hearsay evidence will only weaken Corby's case.

The Embassy says the trial should be allowed to take its natural course.



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Corby takes stand in Bali trial

By Indonesia correspondent Tim Palmer

Gold Coast woman Schapelle Corby has given evidence in her own defence at her Bali drug smuggling trial.

Corby, 27, was arrested last October when four kilograms of marijuana was found in her luggage in Denpasar.

Corby told the court she has no idea how the marijuana came to be in her luggage.

The luggage was brought into the courtroom as Corby described how she volunteered to open the bag at Denpasar airport.

"Because everyone else in other counters were having their luggage searched, and I thought it was no big deal because of the height of the terrorist attacks, that I'll open my bag," she said.

"I opened it and had a surprise and I closed it again.

"I informed the Customs officer that it was my bag but the Customs officer ordered my brother to carry it to a small room when he knew that it was mine."

Corby wound up her own evidence to the court by pleading with the judges to let her go home.

She asked prosecutors and judges to weigh the evidence and let her go.

"You're smart, educated people. You're in charge of the law in Indonesia, please, please, let me go home," she said.

The defence team had hoped to bring a prisoner currently being held in an Australian jail to Bali to give evidence today.

However, the necessary approvals for the man's journey have not yet been obtained and the hearing has been adjourned until April 9 unless he is brought to Bali before then.

Earlier, Qantas baggage handler Scott Speed told the court it was a regulation that no goods, apart from a bodyboard, could be packed in a bodyboard bag.

He said he was sure the drugs must have been placed in Schapelle Corby's bag after check-in.

Corby, who has consistently denied the smuggling charges, faces a possible death sentence if she is found guilty.


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PM says Govt assisting in Corby case

Prime Minister John Howard says the Government is doing everything it can to allow a Victorian prisoner to give evidence to an Indonesian court hearing Australian woman Schapelle Corby's case.

Corby is on trial on drug trafficking charges.

She is accused of importing four kilograms of marijuana into Bali but denies any wrongdoing.

Corby's lawyers had hoped to have a man who allegedly planted drugs in her bag face the court at today's session.

The Australian Government has cleared the way for the man to go to Bali to give evidence but the Indonesian Government is yet to allow it.

As a result, neither that man nor another Australian witness Corby's lawyers hope to have testify is in Bali for today's hearings.

Mr Howard says he spoke to the Justice Minister twice last night about how to get the prisoner to give evidence at the trial.

Mr Howard says it is up to the Indonesian Government to make a formal request for the prisoner to be taken to Bali.

"My advice is that there are three ways in which this person could give evidence," Mr Howard told Southern Cross Radio.

"He could [go] by being taken there under this treaty, [or] following a request he could obtain bail, although I'm told that that's complicated by jurisdictional issues as he's a prisoner of the state of Victoria, and the third is it could be possible he give evidence by video link."



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Australian Broadcasting Corporation

TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT

LOCATION:
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2005/s1331445.htm

Broadcast: 24/03/2005

Corby fronts Bali court

Reporter: Tracy Bowden

KERRY O'BRIEN: Today, 27-year-old Schapelle Corby gave the Denpasar District Court in Bali her account of what happened last October when she arrived in Indonesia. The Queenslander has continued to deny any knowledge of the 4.1 kilograms of marijuana found in her bag on arrival at Denpasar airport. The defence team had also hoped to call another witness, a Victorian prisoner they said would provide strong evidence supporting Schapelle Corby's claims of innocence. Time and red tape have worked against them. In its final stages, the trial is getting renewed attention from Australian politicians and the public.

Tracy Bowden reports.

TRACY BOWDEN: Today was to be the most important day in the battle to prove Schapelle Corby's innocence.

REPORTER: Schapelle, what are your hopes for the evidence today?

TRACY BOWDEN: The last chance for her defence team to present evidence that the marijuana found in her bag at Denpasar airport last October was not hers. Today in the Denpasar District Court, the three judges presiding over the trial heard Schapelle Corby's account of the events leading up to her arrest.

WOMAN: The first time when you...

SCHAPELLE CORBY: I had no idea. I just saw a plastic and I thought this isn't supposed to be here. I didn't put it there. I didn't know what it contained.

TRACY BOWDEN: But the witness the defence really wanted the judges to see and hear from wasn't there. A week ago on the 7:30 Report, we detailed what the defence team declared was a breakthrough - a sworn statement that suggested Schapelle Corby was the unwitting victim of a domestic drug trafficking exercise.

ROBIN TAMPOE, DEFENCE LAWYER: We will hopefully be able to convince the judges over there that, you know, these aren't her drugs, that something has gone on beyond her control.

TRACY BOWDEN: The Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty, played down the significance of the new information.

MICK KEELTY, FEDERAL POLICE COMMISSIONER: It does mention Corby, but only in the sense that the prisoner made the conclusion that it was connected to the Corby case.

TRACY BOWDEN: The big challenge for the defence team has been getting the star witness out of jail in Victoria and into court in Indonesia. Time and possibly red tape has worked against them.

JOHN HOWARD, PM: I spoke to our Justice Minister about this matter twice last night and he was in contact with his Indonesian counterpart and discussions are going on.

TRACY BOWDEN: The Federal Government suggested Schapelle Corby's legal team didn't act quickly enough.

PHILIP RUDDOCK, ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Ms Corby's counsel were advised some week or so ago that they needed to initiate requests with Indonesia for them to be able to consider approaching Australia under the treaty. That request only occurred yesterday.

JOHN HOWARD: We will do everything that we are properly and reasonably asked to do to see that any relevant evidence is presented. Now I'm not going to comment on the nature of the evidence, it's not my role to do that, that's a matter for the court, but if there is anything we can do we will do and are doing.

TRACY BOWDEN: The PM and senior ministers now seem to be taking a much more active role in this case. Late today, the Attorney-General offered the services of a senior barrister to the Corby legal team. That, as public opinion begins to boil on the airwaves. The Indonesian Embassy has been swamped with calls since this talkback exchange this morning.

MAN ON TALKBACK: I've got some phone numbers for the Indonesia consulate and embassy in Canberra. I'm wondering for all the people who have travelled to Indonesia, like myself - we can't seem to do anything with the government. How about we let them know that if this is the way you treat our fellas we may not want to come back again.

ALAN JONES, 2GB: Dependent on our goodwill on a range of fronts. $1 billion in tsunami aid is no small tickle. Let's get on the line and ring these people. Do a bit of justice for an Australian.

TRACY BOWDEN: The embassy responded by saying Indonesia has come a long way towards democracy and it cannot interfere with court proceedings. This afternoon Schapelle Corby reiterated her innocence.

SCHAPELLE CORBY: I told the the customs officer said whose boogie board bag? I said, "It's my boogie board bag." I picked it up and put it on the counter and opened it because everyone else in other counters were having their luggage searched. I thought it was no big deal because of the terrorist attacks that I will open my bag. I opened it and I had a surprise and I closed it again.

TRACY BOWDEN: The Queenslander has now spent 24 weeks behind bars in Bali. While her defence has received a huge boost of not just money but energy in recent weeks, she still faces an uncertain and frightening future.

KERRY O'BRIEN: If Schapelle Corby is innocent, as an increasing number of people seem to believe, then it could be said every Australian traveller has a vested interest in the outcome of this trial and the post-mortem. Tracy Bowden reporting there.



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The World Today - Howard says Govt is helping Corby

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1331052.htm]

The World Today - Thursday, 24 March , 2005 12:10:00

Reporter: Tim Palmer

ELEANOR HALL: To Bali where the trial of alleged drug trafficker Schapelle Corby resumes today, with the
young Australian woman's lawyers conceding they've lost the race against time to present new evidence.

Ms Corby's lawyers say they had hoped to present new material to back their claim that the marijuana discovered in her luggage at Denpasar Airport was planted by someone involved in a domestic drug smuggling racket in Australia.

We'll cross to our reporter in Bali in a moment.

But first, earlier today, the Prime Minister John Howard said his government was doing everything in its power to help Schapelle Corby.

Here's some of what he had to say.

JOHN HOWARD: We are, yes, we are doing everything we can right at the moment to help. The conduct of the case is not a matter for the Indonesian Government, or for the Australian Government. It is a matter for the Indonesian court.

I spoke to our justice minister about this matter twice last night, and he was in contact with his Indonesian counterpart, and discussions are going on about, effectively, a formal request coming from the Indonesian Government for the prisoner in Victoria to be taken to give evidence.

Now, it's up to the Indonesian Government, under the relevant treaty, to make that request. My advice is that there are three ways in which this person could give evidence. He could, be by being taken there under this treaty, following a request, he could obtain bail, although I'm further told that that's complicated by jurisdictional issues, as he's a prisoner of the State of Victoria. And third is that it could be possible that he give evidence by video link.

Now, these are matters, ultimately, that have to be determined by the young woman's lawyers but, let me say, we will do everything that we are properly and reasonably asked to do to see that any relevant evidence is presented.

Now, I'm not going to comment on the nature of the evidence. It's not my role to do that. That's a matter for the court, but if there's anything we can do, we will do and we are doing.

ELEANOR HALL: Prime Minister John Howard on commercial radio this morning.

The ABC's Indonesia Correspondent, Tim Palmer, is outside the court in Denpasar, and joins us now.

Tim, there's been a lot of talk about this evidence that the Prime Minister was discussing being hearsay. How crucial is it for the defence team?

TIM PALMER: Well, yeah, certainly the defence has presented this evidence. It's the key, they say, to their case. They believe that this evidence could virtually guarantee an acquittal if they can get it proven in court, if they can find someone who suggests, directly, that the drugs found in Schapelle Corby's bag were put there by someone else, and they simply ended up in Bali by mistake, with her.

Now, of course, much of the discussion at the moment is focussing on the logistics of how you might get these witnesses to court. But, despite the defence claims, what we don't know is exactly what the strength of that evidence might be once it comes to court, because if it is, as the police commissioner said, initially – on the face of it – hearsay upon hearsay, a prisoner reporting discussions by other prisoners of evidence that, according to the Federal Police Commissioner, didn't directly necessarily relate to the Corby case, you wonder just what the value of the evidence might be in court.

So, while there is a lot of focus at the moment on just how that evidence might be brought to court, and clearly the Australian Government's indicating it is now very eager to expedite that, you can't lose focus of the fact that we really don't know what would be delivered in court in any case.

ELEANOR HALL: Is it expected that the defence team will ask for another extension today?

TIM PALMER: Certainly, that's what they were indicating at meetings that wrapped up just before midnight last night. It was only when they arrived in Bali yesterday that their expectations were confirmed, that this prisoner in Victoria, who's the man who has heard from other prisoners discussions of what he says were this possible alleged crime that led to the drugs being in Corby's bag, certainly they think they could bring that prisoner if they are given more time.

And now, with the Prime Minister raising the possibility of video link, that's something that was done in the Bali bombers' cases here, with video links from Singapore and Malaysia, so technically it is possible.

The real question is whether the court can afford to give them more time. They were granted an extension last week, on the basis that they said that they could deliver this man, and in fact they didn't just tell the court that, they told the court that they hoped they could deliver the person who would give evidence about actually placing the drugs in the bag himself.

Now, if they can't deliver that to the court today, it remains to be see what the judge's response will be, having had that suggested they'd be here this week, whether they'd be prepared with the clock running down on this case procedurally, to grant another extension, because at a certain time in the coming months, the court would have to release Schapelle Corby – under the law – because they pass, basically, a legal deadline for holding her during the trial.

ELEANOR HALL: So, where would it leave the defence team's case, if the extension were to be denied?

TIM PALMER: Well, certainly today they do have other witnesses here, but they're not of the same type of witness that it hopes to bring, people who could give direct evidence about an explanation for the drugs being there.

They are people who are going to give expert opinion, a criminologist who will say that he doesn't believe, from his assessment in Australia of Schapelle Corby, that she's the type to carry out drug trafficking, a former NSW drug squad detective who will say that it is possible, certainly from his experience, that there was a domestic drug trafficking ring, and this could be the result of that.

Clearly this evidence, while having some worth, the defence believes, is not of the same value of what they hoped to bring today. They may hope to use up the whole day at least, which might further their case for pushing for a further delay, but if they can't, and if this evidence doesn't fill the data, it could be that the court brings on the next stage in the trial, which will be Schapelle Corby being examined and giving evidence herself.

ELEANOR HALL: So, how far through the trial are we now?

TIM PALMER: Well, we are coming to the closing stages. Essentially what we have now are whatever witnesses the defence can bring. After that we will have this examination of Schapelle Corby herself, where she'll give her own account to the court.

Then following that there'll be a pause in proceedings for possibly a couple of weeks while the prosecution decides, and they'll determine it partially after hearing the examination of Schapelle Corby. The prosecution will request the sentence they think appropriate; that actually happens before a verdict in Indonesian court systems.

Then following that, some weeks later – after defence response – we'll be at the stage of verdict. So, we are at the stage where we probably have four to five more sitting days before this matter's finalised.

ELEANOR HALL: And is it almost certain that the prosecution would request the death penalty?

TIM PALMER: Well, in fact I think that might be unlikely. But they're not saying that at this stage. We can only look at similar cases. While we do have a person who had a fairly sophisticated plot to bring 10 kilograms of marijuana into the country on death row, there are other people who have brought roughly the same quantity that Schapelle Corby's charged with bringing in who have received lengthy sentences, and it was never suggested that they get the death penalty.

And I think, if you spoke to people, they would say that given the lack of sophistication in the alleged importation, if she is found guilty, that they probably would not push for the death penalty. But it all remains to be seen, and the prosecution says it's
waiting to see how Schapelle Corby presents herself in her examination.

ELEANOR HALL: Tim Palmer, in Denpasar, thank you.



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Australian Broadcasting Corporation

TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT

LOCATION: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2005/s1331455.htm

Broadcast: 24/03/2005

Corby gives evidence in Bali

Reporter: Tim Palmer

TONY JONES: A tearful Schapelle Corby has given evidence for the first time at her drugs trial in Bali. The Gold Coast woman is facing a possible death sentence for allegedly attempting to smuggle 4kg of marijuana into Indonesia. In an emotional hearing, she pleaded with the judges to be allowed to return home. From Denpasar, Indonesia correspondent Tim Palmer reports.

TIM PALMER: Distraught when she came to court, Schapelle Corby appeared to be physically ill while waiting in the cells for her defence case to start. This was to be the first chance for her to give evidence in her own defence. The judges quizzed her about her knowledge of drugs and asked her to account for her trip from Brisbane to Bali, virtually hour by hour. Then she was confronted again with the bag that was found on her arrival at Denpasar.

SCHAPELLE CORBY: The customer's officer said, "Whose boogie board bag?" I said, "It's my boogie board bag." I picked it up and I put it on the counter and I opened it. Because everyone else on other counters were having their luggage searched. I thought it was no big deal because of the height of the terrorist attacks that - I will open my bag. I opened it and I had a surprise and I closed it again. I informed the custom's officer that it was my bag, but the custom's officer ordered my brother to carry it to a small room.

TIM PALMER: Schapelle Corby went on to say she had no idea how the drugs came to be in her luggage.

SCHAPELLE CORBY: I did not import this. I've never seen this plastic bag of marijuana at all in my life before I got to Denpasar airport.

TIM PALMER: Then in what will almost certainly be her last act in this trial, Schapelle Corby made a direct plea to the three judges who will decide her future.

SCHAPELLE CORBY: You are smart, educated people. You are in charge of the law in Indonesia. Please... let me go home.

TIM PALMER: Schapelle Corby was forced to deliver her own evidence today when her legal team failed in its bid to produce the man they had thrown forward as their key witness - an Australian prisoner. That failure brought bitter words from her legal team for the Australian Government.

RON BAKIR, CORBY SUPPORTER: We haven't got confirmation from the Australian Foreign Minister's office that the prisoner has been released and escorted over here. But it's typical - we didn't expect anything more from them.

TIM PALMER: The case is now firmly lodged in the political court.

JOHN HOWARD, PRIME MINISTER: I spoke to our Justice Minister about this twice last night. He was in contact with his Indonesian counterpart. Discussions are going on.

ROBIN TAMPOE, AUSTRALIAN LEGAL TEAM: We are heartened. All the support we can get is terrific. It's a matter of getting the job done and finished.

TIM PALMER: The Prime Minister now says it's being examined if the prisoner can go to Bali either under an Australian-Indonesian legal treaty or by him being granted bail or whether he can in fact give evidence by video phone. Australia's consul general in Bali has now written to the court supporting defence calls for the witness to come. Likewise, Justice Minister Chris Ellison has written to his Indonesian counterpart. So in the meantime the defence proceeded with the
witnesses it could deliver. Among them a Qantas baggage handler who said he was certain the drugs must have been introduced into Schapelle Corby's bag after check-in and a criminologist who, while only meeting Schapelle Corby this morning, deemed she was not the type of person to be involved in drug trafficking. Schapelle Corby's defence lawyers have one last chance to bring the witness they wanted in court today. But the judge has given them until mid-next week to produce him in court. Tim Palmer, Lateline.



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AM - Defence witness not ready for Schapelle Corby trial

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1330664.htm]

AM - Thursday, 24 March , 2005 08:08:37
Reporter: Tim Palmer

TONY EASTLEY: Lawyers for Schapelle Corby, the young Australian woman facing drug smuggling charges in Indonesia, have conceded that they've lost a race against time to present new evidence.

They had hoped to present material today that they claim would have cleared Ms Corby.

They say the four kilos of marijuana discovered in her luggage at Bali's airport was planted by someone involved in a domestic drug smuggling racket in Australia.

Neither that person, nor an Australian prisoner who gave a statement suggesting that's what occurred will be in the Bali courtroom today.

The defence team blames their absence on Australian officials.

Indonesia Correspondent Tim Palmer reports Schapelle Corby's lawyers are disappointed.

TIM PALMER: The Australian arm of Schapelle Corby's defence team arrived in Bali to bad news. The prisoner they insist could give evidence that Schapelle Corby was somehow caught up in someone else's drug trafficking scheme wasn't on a flight behind them. And now, won't be in court today when the already delayed defence case will present its witnesses.

The Australian Government says it has cleared the way for the witness to appear, and is waiting for any request for him from Indonesia. But for businessman Ron Bakir, who's bankrolling part of the Corby defence, the responsibility remains with Canberra.

RON BAKIR: We haven't got confirmation from the Australian Foreign Minister's office that the prisoner has been released and escorted over here. But it's typical. We didn't expect anything more from them.

The Australian Government have dealt with many other matters that are more difficult than this. If the Australian Government want him to be brought over here, and want Schapelle Corby to have a fair trial, they will bring him over here.

Time has run out for us. I don't think we've got much time at all, do we?

TIM PALMER: As it stands, what sort of case will you be able to put in court?

RON BAKIR: I guess we'll leave that for the lawyers to answer, but I mean we need to present the best possible case we've got and we need that witness, and the Australian Government haven't brought him here, and he needs to be brought here.

TIM PALMER: Robin Tampoe, the Gold Coast lawyer who flew in with Ron Bakir, says the absence of the witness, while critical, isn't necessarily fatal to the defence case.

ROBIN TAMPOE: Regardless of whether this witness gets here or not, we're still going to bash on the best we can. But let's make some phone calls now and let's see if we can get him here. We want him here.

TIM PALMER: Even if that witness makes it, the evidence has been described by the Australian Federal Police Commissioner as hearsay on hearsay only. Why would you expect an Indonesian court to accept it as having any weight?

ROBIN TAMPOE: I don't put much weight firstly, on what Mr Keelty said about the statements. He made that statement and then he spent some four hours that afternoon interviewing our client. He then spent six hours the following day interviewing that person, and Philip Ruddock's office has given that investigation top priority. So for him to call that hearsay on hearsay, what's happened after that proves it wasn't the nonsense that he seemed to refer to it in the media.

TIM PALMER: Schapelle Corby's defence team were on the eve of today's hearing, reaching a last minute conclusion that their best option might be to go to court today, and again plead for more time to prepare the case they claim to have.

In Denpasar, this is Tim Palmer for AM.



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AM - Fed Govt says it's done what it can for Corby defence team

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1330690.htm]

AM - Thursday, 24 March , 2005 08:11:01
Reporter: Kirstin Murray

TONY EASTLEY: For its part, the Federal Government says it's done everything possible to make sure the new evidence Schapelle Corby's defence team say they have, is put before Indonesian officials.

But Attorney General Philip Ruddock says Indonesia's Justice Minister only found out about the new evidence involving the testimony of a Victorian prisoner last night.

Meanwhile the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra has warned that insisting on hearsay evidence will only weaken the woman's case.

But as Kirstin Murray reports from Brisbane, Schapelle Corby's family is trying to remain positive.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: It's now more than five months since Schapelle Corby was first imprisoned. Every day her mother or father visit with food and fresh water.

MICHAEL CORBY: Mum puts on a brave face when she speaks to me. She doesn't want to stress herself out because it's not going to help anybody, not going to help her or Schapelle.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: Michael Corby is Schapelle's older brother and still lives on the Gold Coast where the family run a fish and chip shop.

He's heartened by news the Indonesian Government is considering accepting the Victorian prisoner. No promises have been made.

Australia's Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says the Indonesian Minister for Justice and Human Rights only found out about the new witness late last night.

PHILIP RUDDOCK: The minister has agreed to take further advice on the matter. He wasn't familiar with the issues and the Justice Minister is writing further to ensure that the Indonesians are aware of our continuing interest to assist if they are desirous of enacting the relevant provisions of the treaty.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: Do you believe the story then, that the prisoner does know what's going on?

PHILIP RUDDOCK: Well I don't think it is for me to offer a comment in relation to a matter that is being dealt with by proper process by a court.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: The Indonesian Embassy in Canberra issued a statement warning that hearsay evidence could weaken Ms Corby's case.

Guy Pilgrim, who was once a regular customer of the Corby's takeaway shop and who's invested thousands of dollars of his own money petitioning for her release, says the defence team shouldn't rely too heavily on the prisoner's evidence.

GUY PILGRIM: The family in general have had, to me, what has been a naive faith in the system, as in justice will prevail and all the rest of that, and so far it's only let them down.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: Michael Corby hopes if the inmate fails to persuade the judge, the Australian Government will help set Miss Corby free.

MICHAEL CORBY: You know, it might be a little bit of work for them, for the authorities, but it's a girl's life that's at risk.

PHILIP RUDDOCK: The approach that we take in relation to these matters is to recognise that when people are in another jurisdiction they may need legal advice. We assist them to obtain such advice so that they can be properly supported in any defence. But we no more interfere in judicial processes in other jurisdictions than we would in Australia.

TONY EASTLEY: Federal Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock ending that report from Kirstin Murray in Brisbane.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 25 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

'Key witness' likely to testify in Corby trial

A Victorian prisoner said to be a key witness could give evidence at Australian woman Schapelle Corby's drug smuggling trial in Indonesia as soon as next Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Gold Coast woman's trial for marijuana trafficking was adjourned yesterday, with a verdict expected in a fortnight unless the defence can produce a new witness.

The Federal Government says it received a Mutual Assistance Request from the Indonesian Government at about midnight.

Indonesia asked Australia to allow the Victorian prisoner to travel to Bali so Corby's defence could call him as a witness.

Justice Minister Chris Ellison says the request is being dealt with as a matter of urgency.

"Arrangements are being worked on as we speak by the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police and we hope to have this person in Bali to give evidence on either Tuesday or Thursday next week," Senator Ellison said.

"Those two days have been set aside by the court as possible dates for this evidence to be given."

The Minister says the prisoner would be flown to Bali on a commercial flight under tight security and would spend only a short amount of time in the country.

Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls says the state will do all it can to assist the Federal Government.

"There is federal legislation in place that would allow any prisoner in any state to be transferred to Indonesia to give evidence," he said.

Corby's defence team says the inmate is crucial to its argument that the marijuana found in her bodyboard bag was put there after she checked in for a flight from Australia to Bali.

'Please let me go home'

Corby took the stand in Bali yesterday, telling judges she had no idea how more than four kilograms of marijuana came to be in her luggage.

During her evidence to the court, the 27-year-old from Queensland's Gold Coast was confronted with the bodyboard bag still containing the marijuana found in it.

Corby wound up her own evidence to the court by pleading with the judges to weigh the evidence and let her go.

"You're smart, educated people," she said. "You're in charge of the law in Indonesia. Please, please, let me go home."

Earlier, Qantas baggage handler Scott Speed told the court it was a regulation that no goods apart from a bodyboard could be packed in a bodyboard bag.

He said he was sure the drugs must have been placed in Corby's bag after check-in.

Corby, who has consistently denied the smuggling charges, faces a possible death sentence if she is found guilty.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 25 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

Opposition backs prisoner transfer in Corby case

The Federal Opposition is supporting the Government's response to Schapelle Corby's drug trial in Indonesia.

In the latest development, a Victorian prisoner is expected to be released and flown to Bali to give evidence in the 27-year-old woman's trial for marijuana trafficking.

It comes after the Indonesian Government issued a request under the Mutual Assistance Treaty.

The Opposition's Kevin Rudd has welcomed the decision by the Justice Minister Chris Ellison to transfer the prisoner.

"We think that's an appropriate course of action given the serious charges which she is facing and we support the Howard Government's decision on this matter and we also support the request by the Indonesians for the witness to be able appear," Mr Rudd said.

Justice Minister Chris Ellison says the request is being dealt with as a matter of urgency.

"Arrangements are being worked on as we speak by the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police and we hope to have this person in Bali to give evidence on either Tuesday or Thursday next week," Senator Ellison said.

"Those two days have been set aside by the court as possible dates for this evidence to be given."

Corby's defence team says the inmate is crucial to its argument that the marijuana found in her bodyboard bag was put there after she checked in for a flight from Australia to Bali.

The Victorian Attorney General, Rob Hulls, says the state will do all it can to assist the Federal Government.

Corby, who has consistently denied the smuggling charges, faces a possible death sentence if she is found guilty.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sat, 26 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

Prisoner to fly to Bali for Corby trial

The Federal Opposition says the Government is doing the right thing in its response to Schapelle Corby's drug trial in Indonesia.

The Government has agreed to transfer a Victorian prisoner to Bali to give evidence in the 27-year-old woman's trial for marijuana trafficking.

It comes after the Indonesian Government issued a request under the Mutual Assistance Treaty.

The Opposition's Kevin Rudd has welcomed the decision by the Justice Minister Chris Ellison to transfer the prisoner.

"We think that's an appropriate course of action given the serious charges which she is facing," he said.

"We support the Howard Government's decision on this matter and we also support the request by the Indonesians for the witness to be able appear."

Justice Minister Chris Ellison says the request is being dealt with as a matter of urgency.

"Arrangements are being worked on as we speak by the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police and we hope to have this person in Bali to give evidence on either Tuesday or Thursday next week," he said.

"Those two days have been set aside by the court as possible dates for this evidence to be given."

Corby's defence team says the inmate is crucial to its argument that the marijuana found in her bodyboard bag was put there after she checked in for a flight from Australia to Bali.

The Victorian Attorney General, Rob Hulls, says the state will do all it can to assist the Federal Government.

Corby, who has consistently denied the smuggling charges, faces a possible death sentence if she is found guilty.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sat, 26 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

Work begins to get prisoner to Corby's drugs trial

Victorian prison officials have begun making arrangements for the transfer of one of the state's prisoners to Indonesia to give evidence in the drugs trial of Gold Coast woman Schapelle Corby.

The Federal Government is still working through last-minute legal issues to allow the transfer.

Corby is on trial for allegedly smuggling four kilograms of cannabis into Bali in her bodyboard bag.

The 27-year-old's legal team wants a Victorian prisoner flown to Bali to give evidence in her defence.

Victoria's Correctional Services Commissioner Kelvin Anderson says his staff are working with the Commonwealth to arrange the prisoner's travel.

"At this point it is envisaged that it will be Corrections Victoria staff who will undertake any escorting responsibilities," he said.

The Federal Government is expected to give final approval for the transfer soon.

Corby has consistently denied the charges.

If convicted, she could face the death penalty.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sun, 27 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

Witness 'risking his life' for Corby

The ex-wife of a Victorian prisoner who will fly to Indonesia to give evidence in Schapelle Corby's drug trial says he is risking his life for a stranger.

The Federal Government has given final approval for John Ford's transfer to Bali, where Ms Corby, who is from Queensland's Gold Coast, is facing the death penalty for marijuana trafficking.

Her legal team believes he can give evidence that someone else placed the drugs in her luggage.

Rita Ford says her ex-husband is risking everything for someone he has never met.

"He's risking his life - I mean it's very sensitive evidence that he would be giving I assume," she said.

"That's not unusual for John because that would be something that he would do.

"He's a decent person and it's the right thing for him to do."

Mr Ford's lawyer, Paul Vale, says his client is due to face his own trial soon.

"His case is listed at the present time for trial in May and he's pleading not guilty to all charges which include rape and aggravated burglary, and a number of other associated charges, but they will all be defended and we're very confident actually," he said.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sun, 27 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

Prisoner arrives in Bali for Corby trial

The Australian prisoner who will give evidence in Schapelle Corby's trial has arrived in Indonesia.

Schapelle Corby, from Queensland's Gold Coast, may face the death penalty if she is convicted of smuggling marijuana into Bali's Denpasar airport last year.

John Patrick Ford flew in from Victoria this afternoon and is expected to give evidence in a Denpasar court on Tuesday.

Her legal team believes Ford can give evidence that someone else placed the drugs in her luggage.

Meanwhile, Ms Corby's lawyers have been rebuked by Attorney-General Philip Ruddock for using the media to protest Ms Corby's innocence of serious drug charges.

Mr Ruddock says too much detail is being aired in the media when it should be saved for the courtroom.

"Commentary needs to be very cautious because it can prejudice the results of investigations," he said.

The Government acknowledges the difficulty of the case.

The judge has warned Ms Corby's defence team that the evidence of the prisoner could work against Schapelle Corby.

The 27-year-old Gold Coast student is accused of attempting to smuggle 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into Indonesia.

The drugs were discovered in her boogie board bag at Bali's Denpasar airport last October.

Ms Corby has maintained her innocence since she was arrested.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Mon, 28 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

Corby lawyers to speak with Vic prisoner

Lawyers for alleged drug smuggler Schapelle Corby are expected to speak later today with a Victorian prisoner, who has been sent to Bali give evidence in the case.

John Ford is in police custody in Denpasar after arriving under guard in Bali yesterday afternoon.

Australian authorities in Bali have notified Corby's lawyers that they will be able to seek access to Ford today.

It is expected he will give hearsay evidence in the trial, suggesting the marijuana found in Corby's bag at Denpasar Airport last year, was put there by drug traffickers.

Corby, from Queensland's Gold Coast, may face the death penalty if she is convicted of smuggling 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into Bali.

The drugs were discovered in her boogie board bag at Bali's Denpasar airport last October.

Corby, 27, has maintained her innocence since she was arrested.

Ford is a remand prisoner in Victoria, facing numerous charges.

The judge has warned Corby's defence team that the evidence of the prisoner could work against Corby.

But Gold Coast businessman Ron Bakir, who is financing Corby's defence, says Ford could be her last chance.

"We've got to take every opportunity and use it and explore every possible door and he's a key witness right now and you know he could be the possible lifeline of Schapelle Corby," Mr Bakir said. Ruddock rebuke

Meanwhile, Corby's lawyers have been rebuked by Attorney-General Philip Ruddock for using the media to protest Corby's innocence of serious drug charges.

Mr Ruddock says too much detail is being aired in the media when it should be saved for the courtroom.

"Commentary needs to be very cautious because it can prejudice the results of investigations," he said.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Tue, 29 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

Police investigate Corby witness claims

Justice Minister Chris Ellison says the Australian Federal Police are investigating allegations made by a Victorian prisoner, who is due to give evidence in Bali today in the case of accused drug-smuggler Schapelle Corby.

It is expected John Ford will tell the court that drugs were placed in Corby's boogie-board bag - without her knowledge - by criminals involved in a drug-trafficking ring operating at Australian airports.

Senator Ellison says a number of people have already been interviewed as part of the AFP's investigations into the claims.

"The Federal Police are regarding this as a serious matter," Mr Ellison said.

"They are conducting an investigation, they've given this high priority and as I say they're working with the Queensland police.

"I don't think much more could be done in relation to the allegations that have been made.

"The Australian Federal Police do regard it as serious and they're acting accordingly."



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Tue, 29 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

Prisoner arrives in Bali to give evidence in Corby trial

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1332421.htm]

AM - Monday, 28 March , 2005 08:00:00
Reporter: Rachel Carbonell

TONY EASTLEY: After days of squabbling and delays, the Victorian prisoner, who claims to have evidence that could clear accused drug smuggler, Schapelle Corby, has arrived in Bali.

John Patrick Ford arrived in Denpasar last night and he's expected to give his testimony tomorrow.

Schapelle Corby's legal team says his evidence will prove that the four kilograms of marijuana found in Ms Corby's luggage was planted there.

The former Gold Coast beauty student faces the death penalty if she's found guilty, and her defence team says tomorrow's evidence is her last chance.

Rachel Carbonell reports.

RACHEL CARBONELL: Forty-year-old John Patrick Ford was escorted to Indonesia by Victorian prison staff and is being kept in the Denpasar lock-up until he gives evidence.

John Ford has made it just in time. The defence case ends tomorrow.

Schapelle Corby's legal team has blamed Australian officials for the delay, but the Australian Government says the request for the Victorian prisoner to appear was made late.

Either way, his eleventh hour appearance may be Schapelle Corby's last hope.

RON BAKIR: This is our last chance, you know, we've got to take every opportunity and use it and explore every possible door, and he's our key witness right now and he's you know, he could be the possible lifeline of Schapelle Corby's.

RACHEL CARBONELL: Ron Bakir, the Queensland businessman bankrolling Schapelle Corby's defence, is currently in Bali. He says the Corby camp is optimistic.

RON BAKIR: The witness will say a number of things. One, he'll say whose drugs they belong to, he'll say where they were going, where they got put into her bag, that they got put into her bag incorrectly and that's why they kept going to Denpasar. They were supposed to get picked up at the Sydney terminal.

RACHEL CARBONELL: Is the evidence that he is going to be giving general, or does it pertain specifically to Schapelle Corby's case?

RON BAKIR: His whole evidence is about Schapelle Corby's case.

RACHEL CARBONELL: And it's based on a conversation that he overheard while he was in a Victorian jail?

RON BAKIR: A conversation that he overheard and then a conversation that he was involved in.

RACHEL CARBONELL: John Ford is facing several charges in Victoria, including rape and aggravated burglary, charges which his lawyer says he'll plead not guilty to.

His ex-wife, Rita, says he is risking his life to help Schapelle Corby.

RITA: He's going there to give some evidence that he has.

RACHEL CARBONELL: Why do you think he feels compelled to do that?

RITA: Well because it's the right thing to do and you know, that's the sort of person he is.

RACHEL CARBONELL: So he has told you that he feels for Schapelle Corby in this case and feels that he needs to go and give this evidence?

RITA: Well of course, you know, he knows what it's like to be innocent and you know, be locked up.

RACHEL CARBONELL: Ron Bakir agrees it's a risky act.

RON BAKIR: We'll file the application tomorrow to the Indonesian courts to request that the court be closed from media personnel because we fear for his life, we really do. And he has taken a very, very big step and come forward.

He's courageous. I got to give him that much, he's courageous. Not many people in his situation would come forward and testify in relation to a known drug trafficker.

RACHEL CARBONELL: Why is he risking his life?

RON BAKIR: He said to us very clearly that he knows by giving this evidence he might be killed or he might die, he said but he could never live with himself if he does not come forward. His conscience will not allow it.

RACHEL CARBONELL: Might be killed because he's informing essentially?

RON BAKIR: Yeah.

RACHEL CARBONELL: Schapelle Corby's support team in Bali has dismissed warnings from the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra and legal officials in Bali that John Ford's evidence could be considered hearsay and may weaken her case, saying the evidence can't hurt her defence and she's got nothing to lose.

TONY EASTLEY: Rachel Carbonell reporting.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Tue, 29 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

Corby an innocent victim: prisoner

By Indonesia correspondent Tim Palmer

A Victorian prisoner has told a Bali court that alleged drug smuggler Schapelle Corby is the innocent victim of petty criminals in Australia.

John Ford told the court the name of a man who he believes owned the drugs found in the 27-year-old Gold Coast woman's bag in Bali last October.

Ford described the people he says were behind the alleged smuggling ring as cowards, naming a fellow prisoner, 'Ronnie', as the man he had come to believe owned the drugs.

But he refused to name the man he said planted the drugs in Corby's bag, saying he might be killed if he revealed it.

"All I can say to the court [is] there's no way on God's earth that Miss Corby is a drug trafficker," Ford said. "I think the court should see that as well. It's impossible.

"It's not uncommon knowledge where I come from about how the drugs got into her bag and how they ended up over here.

"I can't see any way that girl is guilty of this. It doesn't make sense. Logistically you don't bring drugs in something that's going to be opened. Its just ridiculous."

At one stage, the chief judge suggested that Ford's evidence was based on what he had heard in conversations from prisoners who had heard the evidence from others.

Outside the court, the prosecutor said that such evidence could not be legally accepted.

Corby, who denies taking more than four kilograms of marijuana into Bali late last year, could face a firing squad if she is convicted of drug trafficking.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Tue, 29 March 2005
Source: Australian Associated Press (Australia Wire)
Website: http://www.aap.com.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Associated Press

Corby trial: 'Only deal he gets is being bashed up'

Lawyers for accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby deny a deal has been done with an Australian prisoner who claims to  have evidence she is innocent.

Victorian remand inmate John Ford arrived this morning to give testimony to a Bali court that he overheard a conversation among other prisoners in jail that Corby - a former Gold Coast beauty student - was the victim of a domestic drug smuggling operation gone wrong.

Handcuffed, he was accompanied by two Indonesian police officers and was dressed neatly in a white shirt and black trousers.

He said nothing as he was led to a holding cell at the back of the court.

Ford may be 27-year-old Corby's best chance of escaping a possible firing squad for allegedly smuggling 4.1kg of marijuana into Bali's Denpasar airport last October.

An adviser to Corby's legal team, Vasu Rasiah, said Ford would not receive any special treatment during his own trial in Australia next month in return for his testimony in Bali.

Ford is facing charges of rape, aggravated burglary, threat to kill, unlawful imprisonment and assault.

"There is no deal. The only deal he gets is being bashed up when he gets home," Vasu said.

He said Ford faced great danger of reprisal from the drug gang he will claim placed the cannabis in Corby's unlocked boogie board bag.

Corby's sister Mercedes said she was unsure how compelling Ford's evidence would be.

"The only reason he came over is because of political pressure," she said.

"But if he didn't have information that could really help, why would they go to all this trouble to send him over here?" she said.

Mercedes Corby said her sister was under an increasing amount of pressure as the trial progressed, with a verdict expected around mid-May.

"She is starting to lose a bit of weight and is looking drawn. She is a bit more teary."

Corby's lawyers were expected to request Ford's evidence be heard in secret when her trial resumes later this morning to minimise the risk of revenge attack.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Tue, 29 March 2005
Source: Australian Associated Press (Australia Wire)
Website: http://www.aap.com.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Associated Press

Australian airport drug ring probe

Federal police are investigating an alleged drug ring in Australian airports, Justice Minister Chris Ellison said today.

Victorian prisoner John Ford is today expected to tell a Bali court hearing the case of accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby that drugs were placed in Corby's boogie-board bag without her knowledge by criminals involved in a drug-trafficking ring operating at Australian airports.

Senator Ellison said a number of people had been interviewed as part of the Australian Federal Police's ongoing investigations into the claims.

"The federal police are regarding this as a serious matter," Senator Ellison told ABC radio.

"They are conducting an investigation, they've given this high priority and as I say they're working with the Queensland police.

"The Australian Federal Police do regard it as serious and they're acting accordingly."



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 30 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

Criminologist convinced Corby is innocent

A leading Queensland criminologist says he is convinced Gold Coast woman Schapelle Corby is innocent of the drug smuggling charges she is facing in Indonesia.

Professor Paul Wilson has just returned from giving evidence at Ms Corby's trial in Bali.

Ms Corby is facing a possible death sentence after four kilograms of marijuana were found in her bag at Denpasar airport last October.

Her trial has heard claims the drugs were put in her bag without her knowledge and Professor Wilson says that is plausible.

"She doesn't have any of the characteristics, she's got no criminal record whatsoever, no juvenile record, the only record she's got is for a parking fine," Mr Wilson said.

"She's got no history of drug taking whatsoever, they tested her and there was no drugs in her system whatsoever."



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 30 Mar 2005
Source: Northern Territory News
Author: Nigel Adlam
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Email: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://www.ntnews.com.au
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/283

Waratahs on holiday in Bali visit Corby in jail

Darwin footballers visited accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby in prison in Bali.

Players from NTFL team Waratahs spent 15 minutes with the beauty therapy student and said she was cheerful, although facing the death penalty if convicted.

Several of the men also sat in on her trial.

“She’s an Aussie in trouble and we wanted to give her our support,” Shane “Jacko” Carroll said last night.

Ms Corby, 27, told the players her only amusement had been playing on a run-down tennis court inside the compound.

But convicted Bali bomber Amrozi, whose cell is next to the court, persuaded authorities to stop her because he objected to women taking part in sport.

“She feels a bit uncomfortable being so close to the Bali bombers,” Mr Carroll said.

The players were on a club end-of-season trip when they visited Ms Corby three times.

They took her a hamper, which included her favourite lollipops, cakes and cigarettes.

The players met the Queenslander in the prison visitors’ room and did not see her cell.

Mr Carroll said the jail made Darwin prison “look like the Hilton”.

“It’s very run-down,” he said. “There are no comforts.

“She’s kept her sense of humour. She says Bali has been the worst holiday of her life.

“She knows it’s high stakes now. She’ll be set free, executed or serve a very long prison sentence. The jail sentences over there are much harsher than here.”

Ms Corby is locked in her cell with seven women every day at 4pm and not let out until dawn.

The cell does not have a fan or electricity.

She wears a prison-issue T-shirt and trousers.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 30 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

The World Today - Federal Police investigating drug smuggling ring claims

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1333558.htm]

The World Today - Tuesday, 29 March , 2005 12:40:34
Reporter: David Mark

ELEANOR HALL: As a result of claims expected to be made by Victorian prisoner, John Ford, at the trial of Queensland student Schapelle Corby today in Bali, officers from the Australian Federal Police are now investigating claims of a domestic drug smuggling ring.

The Federal Justice Minister, Senator Chris Ellison, says the investigation is looking into claims that marijuana found in Ms Schapelle Corby's bodyboard bag was put there by a Brisbane baggage handler to be removed by an accomplice in Sydney.

Instead, the drugs were left in the bag and found in Denpasar when Ms Corby landed.

Senator Ellison has also criticised Schapelle Corby's defence team for speaking publicly about her case.

David Mark spoke to Senator Ellison and began by asking him when the Victorian prisoner John Ford first spoke to the police about the alleged drug smuggling ring.

CHRIS ELLISON: Mr Ford has been interviewed by the Australian Federal Police. Initially he made a statement on or about the 15th of March. That was provided to us by the defence team for Schapelle Corby. Consequential on that the Australian Federal Police interviewed him and continuing inquiries have resulted from that.

I understand a number of people have been spoken to by the Australian Federal Police who are working closely with the Queensland Police on this matter.

Suffice to say that the Australian Federal Police have taken this matter seriously, they're investigating the matter and those investigations are ongoing. I accordingly can't comment on that for operational reasons. But I can say the Australian Federal Police treated this seriously, and they are working on the matter with the Queensland Police and they've spoken to a number of people.

Statements which have been taken from those people who have been interviewed, have been provided to the defence team for Schapelle Corby. So the action that has been taken has been very quick and it's ongoing.

DAVID MARK: The prisoner, John Ford, has spoken about his concerns for his safety. What protection will he get when he  returns to Australia?

CHRIS ELLISON: When Mr Ford returns to Australia he of course will be in the custody of the Victorian authorities, and really they're the best ones to assess any requirements for Mr Ford's detention.

I don't have responsibility for that and I really shouldn't comment on a matter which is really in the area of the Victorian authorities, and no doubt they'll take the appropriate action if it's needed.

DAVID MARK: Senator Ellison, why did the Federal Government offer to fly the prisoner to Bali?

CHRIS ELLISON: Well, the Federal Government has said throughout that it stands ready to assist in whatever way it can to ensure that Schapelle Corby gets the opportunity to put her defence fully.

And the defence team in this case were of the view that Mr Ford was an essential witness for the defence of Schapelle Corby. That being the case we complied with their request, we acted quickly. I spoke to the Indonesian Minister for Justice, and of course you have Mr Ford in Bali today giving evidence in her defence.

Now, throughout, we've said that Schapelle Corby should be able to put her defence fully, and we have always said that we would do whatever we could do to assist with that and of course that has been done.

DAVID MARK: Are you of the view that his evidence will help in Schapelle Corby's case?

CHRIS ELLISON: I'm not commenting on the evidence of Mr Ford, I don't think it's appropriate. I wouldn't do it if it was an Australian court, and I should say that I have the same respect for the Indonesian judicial process, that when you have a case that's pending, comments on the evidence and the case are inappropriate.

But what I can say is the defence team obviously think Mr Ford is a relevant witness, an important witness for their case, that's why they've made the request for mutual assistance and that's why the Australian Government has acted so quickly.

DAVID MARK: The Attorney-General Philip Ruddock on Sunday criticised Schapelle Corby's legal team for making too much use of the media. Do you share that criticism?

CHRIS ELLISON: Well I must say that we must be very careful what we say and do in the public forum.

You have to remember that we do have a court case which is pending in Indonesia, and I certainly would caution anyone who's making public statements in this regard that Schapelle Corby is on trial, she deserves a fair trial, a fair go, and public comment can sometimes prejudice a person's interests in that regard, and I simply say that, look, if we had judicial proceedings in Australia there would be obvious guidelines "the sub judice rule for instance" that we would observe, and it makes no difference that the court case in this matter is in Indonesia.

We should observe the same sorts of caution, if you like, in what we say and do, and I think that wide-ranging public discussion can sometimes unintentionally result in prejudicing a person's chances.

ELEANOR HALL: The Federal Justice Minister, Senator Chris Ellison, speaking to David Mark.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 30 Mar 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby (Schapelle Corby)

The World Today - Schapelle Corby awaits sentence

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1334404.htm]

The World Today - Wednesday, 30 March , 2005 12:30:00
Reporter: Steve Austin

ELEANOR HALL: Her defence team has rested its case, and now Schapelle Corby waits in a Bali prison to hear what her sentence might be if she's found guilty of drug smuggling.

It's not yet known whether Ms Corby's defence team has persuaded the Indonesian judges that she's simply a victim of a domestic Australian drug smuggling ring.

Professor Paul Wilson, the head of Criminology at Queensland's Bond University, has just returned from Bali where he testified in the case, and he's speaking here to ABC radio's Brisbane 612 presenter, Steve Austin.

PAUL WILSON: Basically I compared her characteristics, personal characteristics, background characteristics, with those of drug couriers. And I also analysed the crime as I saw it. I came to the conclusion, based on many, many facts, that she had no intent to put drugs in the bag, she had no knowledge of it, and that she was innocent. And I said that.

It was a fairly bizarre setting to be saying these things, in an Indonesian court with the media running around, a cameraman and woman rushing behind the judges, sound recorders sticking mikes in front of you all the time, but the experience was highly emotional, not only actually giving evidence, but also just being there and being involved in the case.

STEVE AUSTIN: It's getting the atmosphere of being a show trial, almost, at the moment, isn't it, in Indonesia?

PAUL WILSON: Well, yes, they have lots of show trials in Indonesia, partly because their system is very different from ours. It's essentially an inquisitorial system. And the judges control proceedings and ask most of the questions, and they can at times ask questions in a fairly direct way.

One experience that sticks in my mind was when one of the judges said to me: well, you're a criminologist, you should be able to read faces and know whether Schapelle Corby is innocent or not.

And then he asked Schapelle Corby to stand up and for me to stand up and for me to look in her eyes and say whether I thought she was innocent or not. And I said to the judge, and to the court, I said well, I cannot just come to a conclusion based on looking at her eyes.

But I have interviewed her, I have analysed her case in some detail, and I have looked at the records regarding her prior behaviour before her arrest and during her arrest, and I'd come to the conclusion that she had no intent.

And I was put on the spot a bit, because you're not asked those sort of very direct questions in courts in Australia, at which stage the crowd in the court clapped me. I was taken aback by this. I didn't really think clapping was appropriate in courts, but it happened.

But this question came right out of the blue, and that's how proceedings happen in Indonesian courts. The judges can ask anything they want to, anything at all they want to.

One point I will make, though, is that the leading Indonesian barrister in the case, who's done something like 350 drug trials in Indonesia, and mainly in Bali but not entirely in Bali, told me that he's only had three or four acquittals.

And what that means is that under Indonesian law, you virtually have to reverse the onus of proof, and you have to prove that there is another scenario, another way that the drugs could have gotten in the bag. It's not really for the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt. The onus is on you the defence to...

STEVE AUSTIN: Prove innocence?

PAUL WILSON: ...to prove innocence, and to give another way in which the drugs could have got in the bag. So I think that's the reason why Robin Tampoe and Ron Bakir and the Indonesian team have brought this informer over, despite the risks of doing so.

ELEANOR HALL: Professor Paul Wilson, the head of Criminology at Queensland's Bond University, speaking to the ABC's Steve Austin in Brisbane.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 30 March 2005
Source: Australian Associated Press (Australia Wire)
Website: http://www.aap.com.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Associated Press

Corby shocked by Ford testimony

Accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby was left shocked and upset by evidence that she was the innocent victim of an Australian crime gang, a key supporter has said.

Lawyers for the former Gold Coast beauty student on trial in Bali have been heartened by the evidence of Victorian remand prisoner John Ford, and by news Australian police are investigating an alleged drug ring in Australian airports.

Ford told Denpasar District Court on Tuesday he overheard two fellow prisoners laughing about how a crime boss's shipment of marijuana had gone missing between Brisbane and Sydney last year.

He was certain the stash was the same 4.1kg of marijuana found in Corby's boogie board bag when she arrived at Bali airport last October.

But while encouraged by his testimony, 27-year-old Corby was devastated to hear an explanation of what might have put her in a Bali jail cell and at risk of execution by firing squad, said financial backer Ron Bakir.

"She couldn't sit through listening to what actually happened to her for the first time," Bakir, a Gold Coast phone mogul told ABC radio after visiting Corby on Wednesday in Bali's Kerobokan prison.

"What's really getting her down is when Mr Ford said the other people were making a joke about who's going to get shot over it. That's really shocked her."

Bakir said he was confident the trial judges would take Ford's evidence very seriously.

"I think it will help her case - I have no doubt about it."

Vasu Rasiah, an adviser to Corby's legal team, also said Corby had been encouraged by Ford's evidence.

"With Ford's testimony, the (Australian) government cannot sleep anymore," Rasiah told journalists outside the prison after visiting Corby.

"They have to investigate, so there's another road opening towards freedom."

On Wednesday Corby's uncle, Shun Hatten, said she looked the worst he had ever seen her after Ford's testimony.

"She was just overwhelmed by the sacrifice he's made and the debt she owes him," he said. "The whole family is very grateful to him."

Ford was expected to fly back to Australia on Wednesday night.

Corby's lawyers are also confident an Australian Federal Police investigation into domestic airport drug trafficking syndicates will find new evidence to free their client.

"The Australian Federal Police do regard it as serious and they're acting accordingly," Justice Minister Chris Ellison said.

It was unclear whether any new evidence arising from the AFP investigation could be submitted to the Bali court at this late stage.

However, Rasiah suggested it could be grounds for a judicial review later.

Despite the good news, Bakir said Corby was struggling emotionally.

"She's not doing too well - she's not coping at all. We need to get her out."

Corby also issued a message through Bakir to the Australian public, appealing for their continued support.

"I thank the Australian public for all of their support because without their support I'd be dead already," Corby's message said.

Corby's mother, Rosleigh Rose, said her daughter's health had noticeably deteriorated through the trial progressed.

"Schapelle is strong, but it's a long time to be kept in these conditions," she told AAP outside the prison.

Inside, Corby is sharing a cell with seven Balinese female prisoners and is rarely let out unless she has a visitor.

"Everybody's got their breaking point, hopefully she can last a couple more weeks," Rose said.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 30 March 2005
Source: Australian Associated Press (Australia Wire)
Website: http://www.aap.com.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Associated Press

Melbourne man denies Corby drugs link

Melbourne man Ronnie Verganza has been left shattered after a Bali court was told he was linked to a drug stash allegedly planted on Schapelle Corby.

Mr Verganza, 38, whom prisoner John Patrick Ford claimed owned the 4.1 kg of marijuana found in Corby's bodyboard bag, said he had nothing to do with any drug ring, Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper reported.

He said he was just trying to get his life back together after getting out of jail six weeks ago, the newspaper said.

When interviewed on Tuesday night, Mr Verganza's wallet contained $4.55 in change, a Medicare card, a pension card and a video store card.

"Have a look around - do I look like a drug lord?" the Herald Sun quoted him as asking.

"I don't know what I could have done to this fella (Mr Ford). He's named me as the man who financed the whole deal, and I don't even have a bank account."

Mr Verganza said he was in jail when Corby, a Queensland beauty school student, was arrested at Denpasar airport in Bali.

He said he had no involvement with Corby or anyone associated with her.

The newspaper reported that Mr Verganza recognised Mr Ford from Port Phillip Prison where he used to serve the food, but said he had never spoken to him.

Corby faces a possible death sentence if found guilty by an Indonesian court of smuggling drugs into the country. Pleading innocent, she says someone planted the drugs in her unlocked bodyboard bag.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 30 March 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Author: Neil McMahon in Denpasar and Joseph Kerr
Copyright: 2005 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

Trafficker would kill Corby: witness

Schapelle Corby's would-be saviour says they would both be killed if he named one of the traffickers he blames for the marijuana stash that has left her at risk of the death penalty for drug smuggling in Bali.

Corby yesterday spent an hour in a tiny holding cell with the Victorian prisoner John Patrick Ford before hearing him give evidence that she was the victim of a trafficking syndicate that had "lost" the drugs after putting them in her boogie board bag at Brisbane Airport last October. For the two men who had told him the story, "the joke ... was that somebody else got caught with it and somebody else was going to get done for it".

Ford, 40, named three men in his evidence, one of whom he was "100 per cent sure" owned the 4.1 kilograms in question, and two others whom he identified as Terry and Paul.

He also mentioned a fourth man, who he said had put the drugs in the bag, but told the District Court: "I am 100 per cent certain that if I mentioned this person's name in relation to these cases, when I get back to Australia I will be killed and very likely Miss Corby [will be killed] as well, just to prove a point."

It was unclear from Ford's evidence whether he knew the name of the fourth man. He said the man had been named by Terry, Paul and other prisoners during conversations in prison, but he had not given their claims much credence at the time and had not written it down. In later evidence he appeared to suggest he did know the name but would not reveal it because he was scared.

But during questioning he stuck to his core story: Corby was a "very unsuspecting" drug mule and he was "the only person taking the risk" to save her.

"All I can say to the court is there is no way on God's Earth that Miss Corby is a drug trafficker ... I can't see any way this girl is guilty of this. My belief in that is so strong that I have put my personal safety at risk over this. I just want to see justice done."

During Ford's evidence the 27-year-old former Gold Coast student leaned forward at times, straining to hear him, occasionally closed her eyes or bit her lip and at one point sat back and wept.

Ford, who has been on remand on aggravated burglary and other charges for 14 months, told the court his connection with the first man began in February last year, when they shared a cell in the Melbourne Custody Centre. The man was waiting to be extradited to Queensland, and had spoken of a domestic trafficking operation he wanted to start from Brisbane.

Ford had seen him in prison again several months later, when he had indicated the operation was up and running. In the first week of October last year he had also become acquainted with Terry and Paul.

The following month - after Corby's arrest on October 8 - he had another conversation with Terry and Paul in which they had discussed her arrest.

"They found it very funny that [the] drugs had gone missing and they found it very funny that they had ended up in Indonesia. They were quite clear that those drugs were supposed to be delivered to Sydney." It was "definitely Corby's bag", he said.

He said he did not know Terry and Paul's surnames. According to his original statement for the defence, which has been obtained by the Herald, Terry is known as a "player" with "Australian east coast underworld connections". Paul is known by the nickname Pav.

He said he was aware of two other cases in which people had been falsely accused over drugs discovered in their luggage. One, involving heroin found in a suitcase, was before the courts in Melbourne.

The Corby trial resumes next Thursday, when the prosecution will close its case. The Justice Minister, Senator Chris Ellison, said arrangements were being made for Ford's return from Indonesia. He denied the Government had been slow to support Corby's defence, saying it had been happy to help in whatever way it could.

The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, cautioned against a high-profile campaign supporting Corby, saying the people the defence team needed to convince were the three Indonesian judges, not the public.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 30 March 2005
Source: Australian Associated Press (Australia Wire)
Website: http://www.aap.com.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Associated Press

Prisoner tells of Corby drug mix-up

Prison inmates laughed as they told how accused drug trafficker Schapelle Corby unwittingly carried drugs for an Australian crime gang, a Bali court heard today.

But Victorian prisoner John Patrick Ford today refused to reveal who put drugs in her luggage, citing fears for her life as well as for his own.

Ford told a hushed court in Denpasar that he had overheard two fellow jail inmates - named Terry and Paul - talking in their prison cell about how a crime boss's shipment of marijuana had gone missing between Brisbane and Sydney last year.

Sharing a cell with Ford a month after Corby's arrest in Bali last October, the pair laughed as they told him how Corby had been an unwitting courier or "mule" used by a drug kingpin and former convict named in court as Ronnie Verganza.

"They found it very funny that Ronnie's drugs had gone missing," Ford told the Denpasar District Court in front of a packed gallery, as Corby listened intently beside defence lawyers.

"They were very specific about the amount of drugs and they were very specific about how they were taken.

"They were quite clear about how it was expected to go from Brisbane to Sydney."

Dressed neatly in a shirt and tie and black slacks, Ford said Ronnie had a "significant financial investment" in the drug stash, which ended up in Corby's bodyboard bag before she passed through customs in Denpasar after flying from Brisbane and Sydney.

But he declined to name the airport employee he believed planted the 4.1 kilograms of marijuana in the unlocked case because of fears of reprisal or murder.

"I'm 100 per cent certain that if I mentioned this person's name in relation to these cases, when I go back to Australia I would be killed and very likely Ms Corby as well, just to prove a point," Ford said.

"Schapelle Corby is a victim of domestic drug trafficking by what I regard as petty criminals and cowards."

He gave evidence as another Australian told the Nine Network that several years ago he discovered a large quantity of drugs in his bags in a Bali hotel room and was advised by the Australian consul to get rid of it immediately.

Ford arrived handcuffed and in a police van ahead of Corby, and showed little emotion as he was led to a holding cell by Indonesian and Australian prison officers.

In contrast, a tearful Corby had to be helped through a media crush as she arrived for the final day of her defence case.

"Help me, please help she," she cried, prompting her sister Mercedes and police to grab her arm and drag her into the same holding cell.

Ford's testimony may be Corby's best hope of escaping a possible firing squad.

A former child support agency employee before his marriage breakup and subsequent arrest, Ford told how he met Ronnie several times.

Ford has been remanded in custody in Victoria for the past 14 months of charges including rape, burglary, threat to kill, and stalking.

Pressed by judges how he could be so sure Corby was innocent given he had heard about the drug stash only secondhand, Ford, 40, denied he had volunteered the information to get out of jail and "have a holiday" in Bali.

"In fact, I take great personal risk at this time of my identity being known and my face being recognised," he said. "This is no fun. This puts me at so much risk I can't describe it."

Chief prosecution lawyer Wiswantanu said Ford's testimony had "no legal value", because it was based on hearsay.

Corby broke down again as she left the court and when asked if Ford could be the turning point of her trail, said only that: "I hope he told the truth."

She looked stressed as judges interrogated Ford through the afternoon.

But her main financial backer, Gold Coast phone mogul Ron Bakir, said he was encouraged by Ford's testimony.

"I think he did well. He was honest and it was from the heart," he said.

"I'm confident that justice has got to prevail."

The court was adjourned until April 7 when prosecutors will submit their request for a sentence.

Corby's mother, Ros, said her family was grateful for Ford's testimony and believed it had helped her daughter's case.

"This young man has has put his life in danger and his family's life as well to get to the truth to help my daughter Schapelle," Mrs Corby told Channel Nine.

"Her heart is bleeding, mine is bleeding as well for her.

"Today is another step for her freedom. Today was a good day for Schapelle."



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 30 Mar 2005
Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 News Limited
Contact: letters@dailytelegraph.com.au
Website: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/113
Author: Cindy Wockner

Schapelle Corby 'a victim of criminals and cowards'

VICTORIAN prisoner John Patrick Ford has asserted that Schapelle Corby was "a victim of domestic drug trafficking run by petty criminals and cowards". He told a Bali court yesterday some people in the drug world thought it was a joke that she was "going to get done for it".

In two hours of evidence at Ms Corby's Bali trial, the 40-year-old said he had heard two other prisoners, whom he named only as Terry and Paul, talking about drug trafficking and about how the drug's owner had lost some more marijuana en route from Brisbane to Sydney.

He could not remember the surnames of Terry or Paul, but Mr Ford named the man he said was the owner of the 4.1kg of marijuana found in Ms Corby's boogie board bag as *****.

But he refused to name the man he says actually put the drugs there.

"I am 100 per cent certain if I mention this person's name connected to this case I will be killed, very likely Ms Corby as well, just to prove a point," he said, when pressed by the judges on why he had told them he was willing to be a witness but now refused to name the man he says is the true culprit.

Mr Ford explained his reticence by saying he had already been threatened, and so had his daughter.

He is on remand in Port Phillip Prison on charges of aggravated burglary, making a threat to kill, common law assault and recklessly causing injury in what he said was "a domestic incident".

He said the charges against him had been cut from 18 to four.

In a quiet, at times barely audible voice he said he had come to Bali to give evidence at "great personal risk", and there was no benefit to him.

A distraught Ms Corby, 27, arrived at court in a flood of tears and was highly emotional throughout, crying as she sat beside her lawyers listening to the evidence they said was her best chance of being declared innocent of charges that carry a maximum
penalty of death.

Mr Ford said he heard several conversations in jail, about last September and November, but initially had not believed them, saying "90 per cent of prisoners talk rubbish 100 per cent of the time".

He said that in a November talk, Terry and Paul told him they thought it was "funny" the drugs had ended up in Indonesia.

Asked if he might be mistaken as to who or what they were discussing, or whether he might have assumed this after seeing a TV program on Ms Corby's case, Mr Ford said: "No, it was definitely Ms Corby's bag . . . they found it quite funny ***** lost more drugs between Brisbane and Sydney."

Asked by Chief Judge Linton Sirait if ***** ever told him he owned the drugs, Mr Ford said: "No, I never heard him say that. I understand he is denying that to police."

The judge then asked if this meant he had just presumed it belonged to the man. "It is more than that. I know it belongs to him, based on what he said when I first met him, and based on what he said to other prisoners."

After two hours, Mr Ford was asked if he had anything to add, and he launched into a spirited defence of Ms Corby.

"All I can say to the court (is) there is no way on God's earth Ms Corby is a drug trafficker," he said.

"I know better than that. I think the court can see that as well.

" My belief in that is so strong I will put my personal safety at risk, and I am not asking anything in return. I just want to see justice done."

Next week prosecutors will outline what sentence they say Ms Corby should receive if she is convicted.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thur, 31 March 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia
Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/

Ribbon idea to support Corby trial

Family and friends are using a hit song from the 1970s to show their support for Schapelle Corby, who is facing drugs charges in Indonesia.

They are asking Australians to tie yellow ribbons around trees and letter boxes to show their support for the Queensland woman.

Ms Corby has been accused of taking more than four kilograms of marijuana into Bali and could face the death penalty if she is found guilty.

She has denied any wrongdoing.

Her Brisbane-based aunt Julie-Anne Caplice says another relative came up with the idea.

"When I mentioned it to the woman in the fabric store at Capalaba, where I bought it, she was so overcome, she just gave it to me," Ms Caplice said.

"She said to her husband cut off half a metre and give it to her and she said I'm going to do that too and that's what people are starting to say to me, 'what can we do', and if they want to tie a bright yellow ribbon around a tree, that would be fantastic."



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 31 Mar 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/283
Author: Cindy Wockner

Darwin uncle hails Corby evidence

Schapelle Corby's Darwin-based uncle Shun Hatton said yesterday he had been encouraged by evidence provided by an Australian prisoner that she was the innocent victim of an Australian crime gang.

Lawyers for Ms Corby, 27, on trial in Bali for alleged drug smuggling, were also heartened by the evidence of Victorian remand prisoner John Ford, and by news Australian police were investigating an alleged drug ring in Australian airports.

Mr Hatton said the whole family wanted to deeply thank Mr Ford.

"I was really impressed with the way he gave his evidence. He didn't waver, he was confident in all his answers. He was very good, he wasn't flustered at all," Mr Hatton said.

Mr Hatton, a Darwin car salesman, his partner Bindi and her son, eight-year-old Malcolm, were all in court to support Ms Corby.

Mr Hatton and his partner, expecting their first child, will fly back to Darwin this week, then plan to move to the Gold Coast to live in the house where Ms Corby and her sister Mercedes previously lived.

Mercedes has been in Bali since her sister's arrest, visiting her daily, taking food and personal items to help her sister survive.

"This has been a sort of catalyst for us to decide we want to be closer as a family. I have been in Darwin for 8 1/2 years," Mr Hatton said.

He has visited his niece in Bali several times since her arrest.

An emotional Ms Corby yesterday asked Gold Coast entrepreneur Ron Bakir to deliver a heartfelt message to her fellow Australians from her Bali prison cell.

"I want the Australian public to keep believing in me because I have done nothing wrong and I want to thank the Australian public for their support because without their support I would be dead already," she said.

Ms Corby and the defence team have pinned their hopes on Ford's testimony in their last-ditch effort to show the court there is an alternative explanation for the 4.1kg of marijuana found in Ms Corby's boogie-board bag at Bali airport last October.

Ford, 40, a remand prisoner at Melbourne's Port Phillip prison, was brought to Bali this week under escort at the request of Ms Corby's lawyers after he gave them a statement.

He told the court on Tuesday that he had heard two fellow prisoners talking about the drugs having been mistakenly planted in Ms Corby's luggage by a drug ring and he named the man he says owns the drugs.

Ford said his information was gleaned from overhearing conversations between prisoners in different jails before and after Ms Corby's arrest and that the prisoners thought it was funny.

He now fears serious reprisals and threats for revealing jailhouse talk.

Ms Corby's mother Rosleigh said after visiting her daughter that Ms Corby and the entire family were grateful Ford had come to Bali despite the risks.

Mrs Corby left the jail with a colourful woven mat that Schapelle had made inside the jail. She and her cellmates weave the mats to raise funds for a new prison water pump.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sat, 02 April 2005
Source: The New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2005 New Zealand Herald
Website: http://www.nzherald.co.nz
Author: Greg Ansley

An extraordinary drama is gripping Australia as a woman fights for her life in a Balinese court against a backdrop of conflicting emotions and suspicions, drug syndicates, diplomatic relations and even natural disaster.

Schapelle Corby, a 27-year-old student of beauty therapy, faces charges of drug trafficking that, if proven, could put her in front of a firing squad. In jail since October last year, Corby is now awaiting a verdict after her defence wrapped up its case in sensational style this week.

Corby's plight is far from unique: three Australians have been executed in Asia for trafficking in drugs, others have a death sentence hovering over their heads, and most of the almost 200 Australians at present in foreign jails are there because of narcotics.

But Corby has touched the Australian psyche, generating an increasing tide of public and media support, convincing a Gold Coast millionaire to bankroll her defence, generating expressions of sympathy from Prime Minister John Howard, and prompting intervention at senior Government levels.

The case has also elicited unusual public comment by the Australian Federal Police, prompted an investigation into a hitherto unsuspected domestic drug route through the nation's airports, and publicly identified its alleged ringleader - who, in reply, appeared on television on Thursday night to deny the charges, reportedly for a fee of A$15,000 ($16,200).

On the internet, three websites have been created to champion Corby's freedom, and opinion in online forums is overwhelmingly in her favour.

Such has been the strength of feeling in Australia that the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra - disturbed by what has been emerging as a popular assault on the integrity of its country's justice system - issued a press statement warning that "trial by press and insisting on hearsay evidence will only weaken Ms Corby's case".

The bare facts of the case are simple. Corby arrived at Bali's Denpasar airport last October for a holiday with her sister Mercedes, who is married to an Indonesian and lives on the island.

With her she carried a boogie board, packed in a protective cover. When customs officers opened the cover, they found a large package containing 4.1kg of cannabis. Corby readily admitted that it was her luggage, but vehemently denied any knowledge of the illicit cargo. Corby has since been in custody in Krobokan prison, charged with trafficking.

Under Indonesian law this crime ranks with the assassination of the President, terrorism, piracy causing death and premeditated murder.

Amnesty International last year estimated that at least 30 prisoners were on death row for drug-related crimes, including 20 foreigners. Last year, an Indian and two Thais were executed for trafficking, a fate that Corby could also face if convicted.

Her defence rests on the claim that the drugs were planted in her bag by a syndicate that used airport staff to stuff illicit consignments into the luggage of unsuspecting passengers after it had been checked in, and remove it at the other end before the bags were collected.

Her lawyers argue that somehow the chain broke down and Corby's bag was loaded on to the flight to Bali before the cannabis could be removed.

Television coverage of a tearful and visually wholesome Corby has aroused sympathy back home.

There is a wide belief that no one could be as stupid as to loosely pack a power of dope into an easily opened boogie board bag and try to sneak it into a country that is inherently suspicious of surfers, and which openly warns visitors that possession of any substantial amount of drugs will mean death.

In all its travel advice, and even in its passports, the Australian Government also warns travellers against drugs: "In some countries ... drug offences carry the death penalty or life imprisonment. Don't assume 'soft' drugs carry milder penalties. Penalties even for marijuana or alcohol can be severe."

Corby has also embodied the lurking fear in most travelling Australians of being thrown into Third World jails for crimes they did not commit, a fear that Corby's potent media machine has capitalised on.

The hub of this machine is a self-made, Gold Coast millionaire, Ron Bakir, who was so touched by her plight that he opened his chequebook and honed his considerable flair for publicity on Corby's behalf.

Bakir, who owns a chain of mobile phone stores and goes by the by the name of Mad Ron, has set up a legal team to backstop Corby's Indonesian counsel and has lashed Canberra for its perceived failure to act adequately on her behalf.

Bakir enlisted the heavyweight support of Bond University professor Paul Wilson, one of Australia's foremost criminologists, and former New South Wales drug squad detective Bruce Griffen, who both flew to Bali to express their belief that Corby did not fit the profile of a drug smuggler - or even a drug user - and was innocent.

Supporting Bakir and a generally sympathetic media is a grassroots movement that starts with the Help Free Schapelle fund set up by long-time family friend Jodie Power and continues with websites and internet forum debates.

The site www.SchapelleCorby.com urges: "We must stand up and be heard!!! This is a complete injustice". Another, www.SchapelleCorby.net, encourages visitors to flood Indonesian consulates with threats to boycott all travel to Bali and Indonesia until Corby is freed.

A third, www.petitionspot.com, has established an online petition from "citizens of Planet Earth demanding the release of Schapelle Corby".

No other previous unfortunate caught with drugs abroad has aroused such fervent sympathy and support.

The Australian Government takes a hard line against drug use and trafficking, and most Australians believe that if people are foolish enough to take the risk, they should be prepared for the consequences - albeit generally short of execution, which most oppose.

There was outrage when Australians Brian Chambers, Kevin Barlow and Michael McAuliffe were hanged in Malaysia for drug offences. Former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke even strained relations with Kuala Lumpur by describing the sentences as "barbaric", but the anger was directed at the penalty, not the conviction.

Far less sympathy has been expressed, if any at all, for Nguyen Tuong Van, a 24-year-old Melbourne salesman on death row in Singapore, 45-year-old Le My Linh, sentenced to death in Vietnam, or two other Australian women facing a similar fate in the same country.

Nor has there been a great deal of public warmth for Suzanne Schuitman, an Australian arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle 2.3kg of cocaine from the French Caribbean island of Martinique to London, despite, like Corby, claiming to have been an unwitting mule for drug traffickers.

Schuitman jumped bail, fled to Canada and is now back in Australia, where Foreign Minister Alexander Downer duly invited Martinique authorities to initiate extradition proceedings if they wanted her back.

Like Corby, Schuitman blasted Canberra for not doing enough to help her. But Canberra's hands are tied when one of its nationals is in the hands of another country's legal system.

It can advise and offer support and succour, but it has no legal right to intervene "even when [local legal processes] would appear by Australian standards to be unfair or unnecessarily arduous".

In dealing with the Indonesian legal system there are additional and powerful sensitivities. Canberra and Jakarta have long had a difficult and touchy relationship. A thaw in the late 1990s retreated to deep freeze with the Australian-led intervention in East Timor.

Things have been getting back on track since the election of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australia's generous response to the devastating Christmas tsunami and this week's earthquake.

The President would have been in Australia this week on a ground-breaking visit had it not been for the latest emergency.

Canberra had already nibbled at this nascent diplomatic capital by criticising the light sentence handed down on radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakir Bashir for his role in the Bali bombings, and the more recent upgrading of its warnings against travel in Indonesia. The Government has been markedly reluctant to be seen to be again sticking its nose into Indonesia and its justice system.

Even so, Downer was moved to note: "It would be legitimate to ask why Corby would take dope worth A$40,000 [$43,400] on the street in Australia to Bali, where it is much cheaper to buy." Added Prime Minister John Howard, a former lawyer: "I have taken a personal interest [in Corby's case] in the sense that I have been concerned, on the face of it, about some aspects of it."

More significantly, when Corby's defence team produced new evidence in the form of John Patrick Ford, on remand in Victoria on charges including rape and burglary, the Government set out to clear the path, despite open scepticism from the Australian Federal Police.

Ford claimed to have heard two cellmates discussing the Corby case and laughing that she would be shot for what had been a bungled domestic transit operation on behalf of an alleged drug czar, Ronnie Verganza.

Ford said the men had said the dope had been loaded into her luggage without her knowledge by baggage handlers in Brisbane, and should have been removed in Sydney. Instead, the connection was missed and it flew on to Bali.

Under a bilateral agreement, Indonesia had to ask Canberra to send Ford to Bali to give evidence. In practice, Indonesian Justice Minister Dr Hamid Awaludin told The Australian, his Australian counterpart, Chris Ellison had telephoned and urged Jakarta to make the request.

When the request came, it was granted with alacrity, with federal taxpayers footing the bill.

Ford duly went to Bali, gave his evidence - naming Verganza, who has since firmly denied the allegations - and returned home, something of a hero to a nation that fairly or unfairly largely regards Indonesian justice as an oxymoron.

A Lowy Institute poll showed this week that Indonesia was among the neighbours and regional powers least trusted by Australians. Amnesty articulated their view of the legal system, noting "widely acknowledged problems [and] evidence that trials in death penalty cases have, in some cases, failed to uphold international standards for fairness".

On the net forum cracker.com.au, one visitor complained of language barriers faced by Corby and "I dare say a lot of prejudism [sic] against tourists or non-Muslims". Said another: "If she's found guilty, let's riot outside the Indonesian Embassy."

At least at home Corby is not short of friends.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sat, 02 April 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Website: http://www.ntnews.com.au
Author: Cindy Wockner
Email: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au

Trapped in web of cultural law

From the moment Schapelle Leigh Corby stepped off a flight in Bali and into the arms of a foreign country's justice system, she has been embroiled in an uphill battle.

Almost six months later, with her drug smuggling trial coming to a close, the fight is not getting any easier.

Anguished and distraught at what the future holds if she is found guilty of a crime she claims she did not commit, the 27-year-old this week tearfully begged the judges and the prosecutor to track down the real culprit and let her go home.

She pleaded: "I love my family, I love my friends and I want to go home and I would never have done anything like what I was accused of."

But the path to freedom is not that straightforward. For its part, the prosecution believes it has made its case - the drugs were in the bag which Corby admits she owns. As far as they are concerned, their case is proven.

Many people who get caught with drugs claim they don't own them - and that is not enough to prompt the prosecution to search for another culprit.

Prosecutor I.B. Wiswantanu, a laid-back Balinese man, has seen it all before, and appeared completely unmoved by Corby's emotional courtroom pleas.

Corby's legal team, on the other hand, claims they have found the culprit, or at least someone who this week testified about him.

John Ford is a Melbourne prisoner who says he overheard a conversation between two other men - who were also in jail - speaking about who owned the drugs.

He also allegedly heard fellow prisoners speak about the fact the drugs were put into Corby's bag by mistake by baggage handlers involved in a drug racket.

Australian police have described it as hearsay at best - a point not lost on the Indonesian court. Getting Ford to court to testify proved a big diplomatic and legal hurdle to leap for the defence team.

But, while ford's evidence may provide the miracle cure Corby is hoping for, at least the judges were intrigued enough to hear what he had to say.

The chief of the three-judge bench, Linton Sirait, said he could not comment publicly on the judges' current thinking about Corby's guilt or innocence but said that Ford's evidence would figure in their decision.

"From his testimony there are some parts of his evidence that will be used in the judges' consideration of their decision," Judge Sirait said.

His comments were echoed by Judge Wayan Suasatrawan who said: "I cannot tell you whether we think he was credible or not but of course we will consider what he talked about."

Under law the judges could decide that because Ford was testifying about events outside of Indonesia and outside of the jurisdiction in which the case is heard, his evidence was inadmissible or irrelevant to Ms Corby's trial and discard it.

But Judge Sirait ominously added: "We also have to think about what capacity (Ford) is being detained [in Australia]. We have to know about his character as well."

Character and demeanour are extremely important in Indonesian courts.

Judges take both into account when assessing an accused person and make particular mention of their courtroom behaviour in their judgements.

Ms Corby's Darwin-based uncle Shun Hatton said yesterday he had been encouraged by evidence provided by the Australian prisoner that she was the innocent victim of an Australian crime gang.

Mr Hatton told The Northern Territory News this week that the whole family wanted to deeply thank Mr Ford.

"I was really impressed with the way he gave his evidence. He didn't waiver, he was confident in all his answers. He was very good, he wasn't flustered at all," Mr Hatton said.

Mr Hatton, a Darwin car salesman, his partner Bindi and her son, eight-year-old Malcolm, were all in court to support his niece.

Of course, Corby has always maintained her innocence. On this she has not faltered.
She is also supported by a team of lawyers, some of whom were reduced to tears in court this week watching her distressing pleas.

Gold Coast mobile phone entrepreneur "Mad" Ron Bakir is the newest addition to the Corby camp after coming on board a month ago and pledging to spend whatever it takes to ensure she gets justice.

Legal ammunition in Corby's fight for freedom and life include the irregularities in the way her case was handled: the plastic bags containing the drugs were never fingerprinted and the boogie board bag containing the 4.1kg of marijuana was never seperately weighed before departure.

In addition the boogie board bag was unlocked at all times during the flight from Brisbane to Bali via Sydney, during which there was no video surveillance to prove no one tampered with it.

On a personal level, she has no criminal record bar a parking ticket.

Then there is the evidence from one defence witness, Brisbane airport baggage handler Scott Speed, who said that 95 per cent of baggage handlers would notice and take action if a boogie board bag weighed more than the regulation 3kg. He also told the court it was possible for someone to insert a parcel into an unlocked bag out the back of the airport, and bags leaving the country were not X-rayed for drugs.

But Speed did not know nor had ever checked whether he was working on the day Corby checked into the airport for her holiday. The judges told him they "regret" he did not have this answer for them.

But will the irregularities in the case, combined with the possibility of the prisoner's testimony be enough to convince the judges that Corby is innocent?

The uphill battle is a long way from over.



Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sat, 02 April 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Website: http://www.ntnews.com.au
Author: Alex Wilson
Email: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au

Behind John Ford's allegations

The former wife of the Victorian prisoner who has flown to Bali to testify in the Schapelle Corby trial said yesterday she was proud of her ex-husband's stance.

Corby is accused of attempting to smuggle marijuana into Indonesia in her boogie-board bag last October and could face the death penalty.

Prisoner john Patrick Ford has signed an affidavit naming three people who allegedely move drugs through Australian airports.
Ford's former wife Rita Ford said he wanted to help Corby.

"He's hoping that he can help," she said. "It's the right thing to do."

Mrs Ford, who lives in Melbourne's northwest, said she had known Ford for more than 15 years and he was an "honourable man".

Ford has said he overheard a conversation between two traffickers who had said some drugs had been put in the wrong bag or on the wrong flight.

Mrs Ford she was now worried for her ex-husband's safety.

"You worry about people who are close to you," Mrs Ford said.

Ford has been on remand for more than a year but his lawyer Paul Vale said the charges against his client related to a domestic incident.

Mr Vale said his client would contest all the charges when the matter went to trial in May.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock yesterday called for a halt to media speculation on the Corby trial and urged Corby's backers and others to tone down their claims.

"What I've been surprised about is the extent to which there has been a lot of campaigning through the media - it makes it much more difficult for the court."

He rejected criticism of his role in the case, accusing Corby's legal team of being tardy in pressing for help.


Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sat, 02 April 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Website: http://www.ntnews.com.au
Email: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au

Burden of Proof

Schapelle Corby under questioning from the Indonesian judges.

Q: So are there many people involved in narcotics in Australia?
A: I don't know.
Q: Do you know that marijuana is grown in Brisbane?
A: I don't know.
Q: What was your reason for coming here?
A: I was going to visit my sister and to have a quick holidy before my father gets really sick.
Q: Is it correct this is your bag?
A: This boogie-board bag is my bag. But this here (pointing to a strap or handle) had been broken … (Corby told the court of her shock and surprise at opening the bag at customs to see the … bags of drugs inside.)
Q: Why were you surprised and shocked?
A: Well, it is something that I didn't put in there. I didn't know what it was.
Q: When you opened the bag for the first time you said you were surprised.    Did you know at the time what it was?
A: No, I did not know what the contents were.
Q: Then why were you surprised?
A: Well, I didn't know what it was. I was scared I didn't know what it was. Then when I closed my boogie-board bag up, a strong smell came out. I was very scared, I didn't know what was going on.
Q: Do you have any idea who put that in your bag?
A: No idea.
Q: Who owns the bag [of drugs]?
A: I have no idea.
Q: So what we have to find out now in the court is who put that in there.
A: Yes, we do.
Q: Do you have any proof that you did not put the plastic bag inside your boogie-board bag?
A: I have never been involved with drugs, I don't like drugs, it is not my drugs. I wouldn't even know where to get the drugs from. I surrendered my luggage to go on a holiday. I surrendered it at the airport. I have nothing to do with it.
Q: So if you said you did not put the plastic bag inside your boogie-board bag and you are not the owner of the bag, what is your alibi? Why is that plastic bag in your bag, how?
A: That's what we are here to try to find out. I have many theories in my head. It has been six months now. I am still here. We need to find out who put it there. There is nothing I can say to prove to you that I didn't do it. I did not do it. It is not mine … I would not jeopardise my life like this. (Corby is crying.)
Q: Based on the investigation. You can't find this marijuana in Indonesia, this must be from somewhere else and in Brisbane the [airport] security did not check the contents of any passenger's bags. Do you think this marijuana in the plastic bag came from Australia or somewhere, Brisbane?
A: I have no idea where it came from.
Q: So far as you know, as soon as passengers check-in their bag would anybody else have access to open it?
A: I don't know what goes on behind the scenes after I check my luggage in. I have never been behind, so I don't know.
* This is an edited transcript of Schapelle Corby's evidence to the court on Thursday.

Accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby could serve part of her sentence back in Australia if an Indonesian court finds her guilty, the Federal Government has said.

The Justice Minister, Chris Ellison, yesterday suggested he would seek to have her transferred to an Australian jail if she is convicted of trying to smuggle more than four kilograms of marijuana into Denpasar Airport in Bali.

Senator Ellison also said that if Corby were found guilty and sentenced to death, the Government would "go into overdrive" to prevent her execution.

"I can't pre-empt the outcome of a court case in Indonesia," Senator Ellison said yesterday, "but if there is a finding of guilt then of course we'll be looking at a transfer-of-prisoner agreement with Indonesia, which we're doing anyway."

The Attorney-General's Department says such agreements have been negotiated with more than 50 countries.

A prisoner can apply if they have imprisoned by a country that has struck an agreement with Australia and they have at least six months left to serve.

Once here, the prisoners cannot have harsher sentences imposed, nor can they apply to have their sentences shortened on the basis that a lesser penalty would have applied here.

They may, however, receive parole.

Senator Ellison said that if Corby was sentenced to death, the Government would make strong representations against the sentence being carried out.

"Now, I'm not going to pre-empt any outcomes, but I can tell you what the Government's policy is in relation to any sentence relating to the death penalty," the minister said.

"That is, we go into overdrive in making representations to avoid that being carried out."

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What can YOU do to help Schapelle?

If you want to get involved in the NAP campaign to free Schapelle, please email us or call 0415 16 2525 (+61 415 16 2525 from overseas).

If you are in Australia's Top End you are welcome to join us at one of our regular NAP meetings. Our meetings are on every second Wednesday at 7pm in Nightcliff. Click here for the date of our next meeting.


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Remember Nguyen Tuong Van? He's a young Australian facing the death penalty in Singapore for a non-violent drug offence.

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The NAP team are currently in the process of obtaining a postal address for Schapelle so that our members can offer him their moral support and show him that he is not forgotten!

Keep an eye on this space!


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Article on Barlow and Chambers

Australian Coalition Against Death Penalty

Australians in peril overseas

Drug Free America Foundation

DrugSense

Drug War Facts

Drug War Prisoners

Free ACEH Movement

Free West Papua Movement

Hands off Cain

Human Rights Watch: Drugs and Human Rights

International Centre for Prison Studies

Latest drug news from Indonesia archived by Mapinc.org

NAP on the Bali Nine

NAP on Nguyen Tuong Van

NAP on Vicki Rosepiler

Prisoners overseas

Schapellism - the new racism?

The hypocrisy of an imperialist neighbour

Timor Sea Justice Campaign

Travel guide to Denpasar from Wikitravel

Washington resumes officer training for the Indonesian military
(Article from the World Socialist website - 11th March 2005)

Washington takes another step towards restoring US-Indonesian military ties
(Article from the World Socialist website - 26th November 2004)

Wikipedia on Bali

Wikipedia on Capital punishment

Wikipedia on Indonesia

Wikipedia on the War on Drugs

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