Schapelle Corby

Schapelle Corby has served more than seven years in Kerobokan prison for attempting to import 4.2 kilos of cannabis into Bali in 2004.

That’s enough. If she did the crime, then she has done the time. By Australian standards at least.

Last night News Limited reported that the Indonesian President had granted her clemency, cutting her sentence by five years. This has led to speculation that she will be out by August. Corby was charged with 20 years behind bars in March 2005.

Continue reading "Schapelle has done her time" »

After two years of waiting Schapelle Corby has been granted clemency. That’s legalese for asking for mercy. Or, in Corby’s case a more lenient sentence.

It’s believed today’s judgment will cut her 20-year sentence short by up to five years. According to Sky News:  “Under Indonesian law, she would be eligible for parole after having served two-thirds of her sentence, meaning that the five-year cut to her prison term could see her released later this year.”

News.com.au reports Corby sought appeal back in 2010 after suffering significant physical and mental health issues since being behind bars.

Continue reading "Corby to be released - but does anyone still care?" »

The ugly Australian is alive and well and holidaying in South East Asia.

Right now he or she is probably bashing someone, taking drugs, or stealing stuff. 

Of course, it’s never their fault. It’s always the “harsh” or “draconian” laws of the country in which the crime is committed, which is inevitably described as “primitive”.

Continue reading "Meet the Ugly Australian" »

There is something enticing about the idea of life in the foreign service, with the promise of exotic travel, dealings and double-dealings with diplomats from the dodgiest regimes, cocktails on the lawn at lavish ambassadorial residences.

We have been reminded this week, however, that a very large part of the role of the foreign service is to lend a helping hand to ratbags who get themselves into strife overseas, and believe that it’s the job of the Government to get them out of trouble.

You would imagine that any Australian diplomat posted to a place such as Phuket would spend most of their time arranging ambulances for guys called Wazza who ploughed their Vespa into the back of a tuktuk after 14 bottles of Singha, safe in the knowledge that our Government can save them from their own stupidity.

Continue reading "Help me Kevin 747. You’re my only hope!" »

This week a 14-year-old boy became the youngest Australian ever to face drug charges in Indonesia after being arrested for allegedly possessing 6.9 grams of marijuana.

It’s believed he bought the drugs because he felt sorry for a man who claimed he hadn’t eaten for a day and needed money. (Note to other overseas-bound teens: by all means give generously; under no circumstances accept the drugs.)

The boy had apparently just received a massage in the popular tourist hub of Kuta and was on his way back to the family’s resort when arrested.

Continue reading "The Kuta Kid deserves all the help in the world" »

It’s not quite as convincing as Azaria’s jacket being found near a known ‘dingo lair’, but news reports that a Brisbane baggage handler was spotted stashing his stash in a bag at the airport will give Schapelle Corby’s supporters hope.

Channel Nine news tonight brought us ‘Sue’, who says back in 2004 she was dating a baggage handler. He told her a fellow worker was surprised by a supervisor while lugging around a massive bag of weed, and he quickly hid it inside a passenger’s bag.

Queenslander Corby is still in Indonesia’s Kerobokan Prison – depressed and pleading for clemency - after police discovered more than 4kg of marijuana inside her boogie board cover on her arrival in Bali in 2004.

Continue reading "Schapelle Corby: A drongo did it, maybe" »

She sits in a prison, thousands of kilometres away from her family and friends. She doesn’t speak the language and doesn’t think much of the food that’s served up to her.

Her only crime was to try and bring drugs into a foreign country to make a bit of money and now she is stuck in a foreign jail for what must seem like an eternity.

How could you not feel sympathy for her? Easy. Her name isn’t Schapelle Corby.

Continue reading "How many other Schapelle Corbys are there?" »

The sole remaining daily reminder in Australia of the existence of Schapelle Corby is the plastic luggage-wrapping service at our international airports.

More than four years after her conviction on drug smuggling charges - when Corby was the only story in Australia, the only topic of discussion at the pub, at barbecues, in the office tea room - the one thing that reminds us that she even exists is the roll of industrial cling-film in our departure lounges, so you can make sure your baggage leaves our shores and arrives overseas without 4.2kg of cannabis in it.

As she prepares to celebrate her 32nd birthday tomorrow - her fifth inside Bali’s Kerobokan jail - prison authorites let Schapelle have her hair cut and coloured by a professional hairdresser, saying they hoped it would cheer her up as she continues to fight with severe depression.

Her illness may be fuelled by the knowledge that almost all of her countrymen have pretty much forgotten about her - and that unlike in 2005, when most Australians disputed her guilt, public opinion appears to have swung the other way, not just against her but members of her family.

Continue reading "How Australia forgot about Schapelle Corby" »