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| Down Under |
| Imprisoned Schapelle turns to God |
| 2005-04-16 |
| SCHAPELLE Corby has turned to God as she waits to find out if she will be executed in Indonesia. The accused drug smuggler has been baptised as a Christian in a Bali jail and defies sweltering heat to pray at two church services every Sunday. Ms Corby, who collapsed at court in a dramatic appearance this week, also reads the Bible in her cell. In another development yesterday, a note by a top security official, who died mysteriously after alleging drug running at Sydney Airport, has been delivered to lawyers for Corby. Her lawyers claim the note supports Corby's plea she is the innocent victim of criminal networks using airports for drug trafficking. Its author, former Australian Protective Services officer Gary Lee-Rogers, was found dead in his Queanbeyan flat in October, 2002. An autopsy was unable to find the cause of death but his family and whistleblowers believe he was murdered after uncovering corruption in the APS's operations at the airport. Corby, 27, has been in Bali's Kerobokan Jail since October. She was arrested at the island's airport with 4.1kg of cannabis in her boogie-board bag. Corby, who could face execution by a firing squad if convicted, has made the two hour-long church services a ritual. Vasu Rasiah, a member of the Australian's legal team, said: "She has a strong faith now. It is a very important part of her life. "Jail is jail, but going to church gives her a release. She is more calm." Ms Corby supporter Ann Potter said she had watched the accused drug peddler finding solace in God. The Sunbury woman bribed her way into the Indonesian prison to see Ms Corby on April 3, and attended a Sunday service with the Queenslander. "She seems to be finding a lot of peace attending those church services," Ms Potter said. "Her (Sunday) ritual was (to attend) two church services, one Protestant and one Catholic." Ms Potter said Ms Corby attended the services, conducted in Indonesian, with about 50 other prisoners. Ms Potter, a former City of Hume mayor, who turned her family holiday into a Corby crusade, said she witnessed one of the judge's text-messaging during a court session and saw another fall asleep. It was also revealed that Corby has decided she wants more privacy. Her lawyers will ask the court this week to shield her from the media, Mr Rasiah said. Mr Rasiah said the strain of the frantic attention was proving too much. "She was scared to go to court," he said. |
| Posted by:God Save The World |
| #5 PF: This is probably going to provoke a severe crisis in the relationship between Australia and Indonesia. I agree. That Bali sentence and now this. Even if she was smuggling drugs into Indonesia, this is not going to be good for people (typically on the Aussie left) who say that Australia needs to become part of Asia. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-04-16 11:58:25 PM |
| #4 Indonesia and Malaysia both execute Western "drug smugglers" (real or framed) on a regular basis. No one ever cares, except for the families involved. The Australian gov't won't do shit, and neither would the US if it were an American citizen. Good point about the Bali bombers though, there's nothing right, or just, about anything in this situation. |
| Posted by: Sheik Abu Bin Ali Al-Yahood 2005-04-16 11:28:09 PM |
| #3 no disrespect to the lady or her ordeal, but she hardly smuggled C4. She F*&ked up and got caught with 9lbs of pot....I agree the sentence is harsh, just trying to keep perspective |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-16 9:51:29 PM |
| #2 I think it's at least page 2, if not page 1. This is probably going to provoke a severe crisis in the relationship between Australia and Indonesia. She's getting a much more severe sentence for being an unwilling or unknowing mule than the surviving plotters of the Bali attack did for their crimes. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-04-16 9:03:56 PM |
| #1 and this is page 1, why? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-16 7:58:27 PM |