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| Australians Shocked At Schapelle Court Verdict | ||
| 2005-05-28 | ||
Hundreds crammed into pubs and clubs and gathered around television sets in shops, Australians were yesterday transfixed as Schapelle Corby learnt her fate. At the MLC centre in Sydney, people seemed stunned as they digested the 20-year sentence. "I really thought she was going to come home today," Rachel Turner, 28, said. "There just didn't seem to be enough evidence to prove her guilty. It doesn't make sense the Bali bombers who killed hundreds of people get nothing, but she gets 20 years."
Laura Draper, 18, admired the way Corby handled the pressure of the dramatic sentencing. "I feel for her. I think it's really awful," the Wollongong student said. "It's just horrible." Sam McCue, 21, showed her support for Corby by wearing a colourful wristband emblazoned with the words "Peace, Courage and Love". "It is great Australians are showing their support," the Cronulla woman said. "Even such a little thing would mean a lot to her." At the Tugun Surf Club on the Gold Coast, more than 100 Corby supporters were inconsolable after watching the verdict live. Friend Natalie Wolfe stood and wept while Guy Pilgrim looked stunned. Corby's second cousin, Lyn Lack, screamed: "We want to bring her home - we don't want to leave her over there." Michael Corby, Corby's older brother, was also stunned by the judgment. "I thought I was ready to hear a verdict like this but when it happened I was only half ready," he said from the Tugun Tavern. "Twenty years is a long time. That's most of her life." Corby's ex-boyfriend Shannon McLure, who watched the sentence on a tiny hand-held television at a Brisbane building site, was shocked. "I just don't know what she's going to do," the 27-year-old said. "I think it'd break anyone - 20 years in jail when you're innocent."
The outpouring of anger saw the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra bombarded with hate phone calls from "very emotional people" immediately after the guilty verdict. Before the verdict, federal police upgraded security at Indonesian missions, with a dozen officers guarding the embassy in Canberra. But not everyone was outraged by the sentence. "I think it's excellent she didn't get the death penalty," Amir Yassa, 26, of Quakers Hill said. "She's got a lot of evidence against her and I don't think she brought up any hard evidence to get her off." | ||
| Posted by:Spavirt Pheng6042 |
| #12 Her problem was that she was put in a position where she had to offer evidence to support her version of events and to counter the customs officers version. She was unable to do that. In the West the fact that no one is their right mind would smuggle drugs from a place where they are worth a lot to a place where are worth very little, would have been taken into consideration. However, in Indonesia logic and commonsense rarely enter the picture. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-05-28 16:38 |
#11 I think what's happened to this girl is sad, but I don't think it is the court system in Indonesia not working -- except that she had a lousy defense to some really serious charges in a country that is unforgiving toward drug use. As for the argument of inequitable sentences, (e.g., âThat said, giving people a few years for plotting the slaughter of hundreds of tourists and 20 years to a girl who may or may not have smuggled weed makes me wonder whether I would want to spend my holidays in such a country.â), that hasn't happened -- although from reports in the MSM, you wouldn't know that. I think the actual number of death sentences and life in prison sentences related to the Bali bombings are higher, but a quick search found the following at this link:On 30 April 2003, the first charges related to the Bali bombings were made against Amrozi bin Haji Nurhasyim, known as Amrozi, for allegedly buying the explosives and the van used in the bombings. On 8 August he was found guilty and sentenced to death by shooting. Another participant in the bombing, Imam Samudra, was sentenced to death on 10 September. Amrozi's brother, Ali Imron, who had expressed remorse for his part in the bombing, was sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 September. A fourth accused, Mukhlas, was sentenced to death on 1 October. All those convicted have said they will appeal.From what I recall, there also have been a number of lesser sentences for participants with minor roles, and these are the sentences in the three to twenty year range that keep getting suggested as the only sentences related to the Bali bombings. Why the MSM wonât report the death sentences can only be explained by the drive to perpetuate controversy and conflict that is the life blood of media. |
| Posted by: cingold 2005-05-28 15:13 |
| #10 Shalet The insquisitorial system has nothing to do about the fact of being guilty until proven innocent. It is a tecnical term for a system where a judge seeks the truth during the investigation. Thus he orders searches, summons witnesses for interrogation and generally leads the investigation. And in France he is supposed to investigate iun both directions: those who would lead to a guilty verdict and those leading to not guilty. The opposite is the accusatorial system where cops and lawyers bring proofs and witnesses to the judge during the investigation and he is just a refereee. In both cases (inquisitorail or accusatorial) once the investigation ends there is a trial by jury with the accused being prresumed innocent. |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-05-28 13:13 |
| #9 R Try the Oktoberfest in Munich. When it's there Germany will already have a conservative, US-friendly government. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-05-28 13:08 |
| #8 Agreed TWA, The world has changed, years ago I even traveled (by myself of course)to countrys the US had imposed travel restrictions on, no embassy/counsulate. I would never let any of my family visit/holiday a/in muzzy country today. Our dollars will go to Alaska etc. |
| Posted by: R 2005-05-28 12:51 |
| #7 Just two questions: 1) If an US customs officer opened my bag at the airport and found 4 kg of drugs in it, I should have a better excuse than "some baggage handler could have placed it", right? Look up "prima facie" to understand what I mean. 2) If I weren't a pretty young woman, would anybody care? Conclusion: Do what I have been doing for decades: Go through your baggage once again before you go through customs. Especially in countries that can give you the death penalty when they find things that do not belong in your baggage. That said, giving people a few years for plotting the slaughter of hundreds of tourists and 20 years to a girl who may or may not have smuggled weed makes me wonder whether I would want to spend my holidays in such a country. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-05-28 11:25 |
| #6 SE - So it is Bush's fault or not? Need another toke / round to make up your mind? Geez, wotta fucking load. As if this hasn't been done bafuckingzillions of times the world over - and Americans are juicy targets, too, getting set up regularly all over the world. None of what you're pissed about lies at the US's door asshole, so the roundabout suggestion you make to link it is fuckwit twaddle. It's the oldest gig in the book for a corrupt Fed of any Govt. The guilty until proven innocent complaint, the setup, the corruption, the sting, the prison, the shitty world of Indo - none of it has dick to do with the US or Bush. Unfuckingbelievable. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-05-28 07:37 |
| #5 Sam McCue, 21, showed her support for Corby by wearing a colourful wristband emblazoned with the words "Peace, Courage and Love". "It is great Australians are showing their support," the Cronulla woman said. "Even such a little thing would mean a lot to her." Fat lot of good it would do her. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2005-05-28 07:28 |
| #4 It's a different system of Justice in Indo (inquisatorial). You must prove your innocence. NOT on the balance of probability. In other words.......... She must present the shmuck that planted the gunga in her boogie board bag, or prove who put it there.... Like oh yeah........ he's gonna jump up and say "It's mine...it's mine..... it's really good shit too !!! I'll jump in this rat infested cell for 20 years and eat cold nasi goreng !!!" Mmm maybe not !!! But that's the Dutch/French colonial system of justice. Guilty until proven innocent....... don't like it ??..... get Mr. Bush to drop some ordinance there.....oh yeah.... I forgot. U.S.A. has just got back into bed with the Jakarta T.N.I Military, and snuggled up next to their Human Rights Violation Record. Well done people !!! Let's shoot the hell out of what's left of Aceh !!! Yipeee *hilk* *hilk* Oh well....... maybe just call the Wilderness Girls to demonstrate outside the Embassy in Bali and sell some cookies......lol Forget the baggage handler theory. It was grown in Bali.....put there in Bali...... by a desparate little Javanese Intel Operative to show the world, and impress the International Community that "We're serious about fighting drugs and terrorism.......come invest in Indonesia !!" Whilst 7 kilo's of Double UO Globe pass the busy Indo Narc dudes and Customs boys.... If only they could have waited for the Bali 9.5 !!! A nice gesture Australian Federal Police........ but a tad too late for Corby Darling. Wrong Place........ Wrong Time. Shit happens. But........ it could have been YOU !!! |
| Posted by: Shalet Elmeash9148 2005-05-28 03:32 |
| #3 Forgive my ignorance, but the author doesn't make it clear - what, exactly, is it that she didn't do? |
| Posted by: Rory B. Bellows 2005-05-28 02:49 |
| #2 Or D) All of the above. |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-05-28 01:44 |
| #1 She didn't bring up any hard evidence because the tapes were either erased, fingerprints weren't taken and the Indos are crooked. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2005-05-28 01:39 |