Why the Bali judges found innocent Schapelle guilty.
Why the Bali judges found innocent Schapelle guilty
Almost every Australian knows who Schapelle Corby is.
On Friday May 27, 2005 an Indonesian court found the 27-year-old beautician from Australia's Gold Coast guilty of importing 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into Bali in her boogie-board bag in October 2004.
The court sentenced her to 20 years jail and fined her almost $14,000.
Most Australians have no sympathy for drug traffickers. In fact, most Aussies will tell you that drug traffickers deserve whatever punishment they get.
But Australians showed unprecedented sympathy and support for Schapelle Corby at the time. Why?
Because they did not believe she was guilty.
In fact, an early poll by television's Channel 7 found that more than 90 per cent of Australians believed she was innocent.
After accusations from a former friend, Jodi Power, on Channel 7's Today Tonight program in February 2007 accusing Schapelle's sister Mercedes of being involved in drugs, many Australians thought Schapelle was guilty by association. A poll showed most of those surveyed now thought Jodi Power was telling the truth instead of the Corbys.
Early evidence showed that Schapelle could have been an innocent victim of bag tampering. There were strong allegations that airport baggage handlers in Australia may have been involved in drug shifting at the time authorities arrested Schapelle.
Her boogie-board bag may have been randomly chosen to move drugs to another Australian airport, but for some reason the drugs kept going to Bali.
Brother
There have been other suggestions that people close to her planted the drugs, although she has never accused them of this. Her half-brother James was carrying the bag through Customs at Bali airport when officers found the drugs. He was convicted of a drug-related home invasion on October 13, 2006.
The bag of marijuana found in Schapelle's boogie-board bag was huge. It would be a stupid person who would think this would escape detection. And Schapelle is not stupid.
So why did the Indonesian court find her guilty?
Because Indonesian law says to punish severely anyone caught with drugs in their possession. And the bag of dope was in Schapelle's belongings.
The Indonesian judges looked at it this way: Were the drugs in her possession? Yes. Did she show any remorse over bringing the drugs into the country? No.
Therefore she should receive a harsh punishment. And she did. She got 20 years' jail, even though some people thought she may get the death penalty.
To the judges' way of thinking, this was a reasonable sentence.
But most Australians are concerned that if someone plants drugs in your bag without your knowledge, you should not have to pay for the other person's crime. And you are not going to show remorse for something you did not do.
Innocent
Most people are suspicious of criminals who say they are innocent. But Schapelle is different. She looks innocent. She sounds innocent. And she probably is innocent.
She found religion in jail, became a Christian, and a Pentecostal pastor from Sydney baptized her in jail.
She almost certainly would have got an easier time if she had become a Muslim instead of a Christian. She didn't.
And she knows that she almost certainly would have received a lighter sentence if she had admitted guilt to the court. She wouldn't.
Twenty years' jail is a long time for this alleged crime — especially since the Indonesian court gave Abu Bakar Bashir only 30 months' jail for his “evil conspiracy” in the Bali nightclub bombing that killed 202 people.
Schapelle's sentence may have been right if you look at the crime the way the judges did.
Tragically for Schapelle, it seems the judges may have looked
at it the wrong way. 
See also: Does the Bible support the death penalty?
2006 – 2008 diary and timeline of the Schapelle Corby case
January 19, 2006 — Schapelle's half-brother James Kisina, who was with her at Bali airport when she was arrested, faced court on January 19, 2006 over his alleged involvement in a violent home invasion. Invaders allegedly attacked two people with an iron bar and a machete, then took a large amount of cannabis and cash. Kisina's lawyer said Kisina would vigorously defend police allegations.
January 21, 2006 — Police say they have directly linked Schapelle Corby's half-brother to the drug run to Bali that led to Schapelle's 20-year jail sentence, Queensland's Courier-Mail newspaper reported today. Detectives made the allegations against James Kisina, 18, in court documents after he was arrested for allegedly leading a home invasion on Tuesday night. James Kisina carried Schapelle's boogie-board bag to the Customs desk at Bali airport, but when officials asked him if it was his, Corby interrupted and claimed ownership.
January 24, 2006 — Schapelle Corby's mother, Rosleigh Rose, said in an interview with Australia's The Bulletin magazine this week that Schapelle had refused an offer to bribe her way out of trouble in Indonesia. Ms Rose said that in the moments after Corby's arrest at Bali airport in 2004, Indonesian Customs officers handed over phone numbers and hinted they could work something out. “But [Corby's sister] Mercedes and Schapelle said 'No, it's not hers',” Ms Rose said, according to today's Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
January 31, 2006 — Australian TV news program 7.30 Report ran a story last night that Schapelle Corby's father had a close association dating back years with a man accused of running a large marijuana operation. Police raided the man's central Queensland farm a month before Schapelle's Corby's arrest in Bali, but did not know at the time that Michael Corby owned the property next door, the 7.30 Report said.
February 1, 2006 — Schapelle Corby's mother, Rosleigh Rose, yesterday slammed as “total lies” new claims linking her family to the drug trade. She said she was considering legal action. She returned from visiting her jailed daughter in Bali on Monday night, only to walk into a fresh media storm linking her ex-husband Michael Corby to a man charged with growing hydroponic marijuana, the Brisbane Courier-Mail reported.
March 8, 2006 — Schapelle Corby's half brother, James Kisina, made a brief court appearance today on drug charges. He will reappear for a committal hearing on June 19. Queensland police have previously alleged in a court affidavit that Mr Kisina may have been involved in the attempted smuggling of cannabis into Bali, The Advertiser reported today.
March 17, 2006 — Schapelle Corby's lawyer and family were distraught today when Jakarta's authorities burned the drugs found in Schapelle's boogie-board bag, under Jakarta Supreme Court orders. They also burned her boogie board and blue board bag, which had contained the drugs and her flippers. Schapelle's lawyer Erwin Siregar said, “We don't have a chance any more to bring this evidence to the court when there is an extraordinary appeal.” The marijuana was never tested for origin.
April 6, 2006 — One of Schapelle Corby's former lawyers, Robin Tampoe, says he is angry at new revelations that bear on Corby's conviction. AAP newswire reported today that security cameras at Sydney Airport had been tampered with during the period that Corby travelled to Bali. But Justice Minister Chris Ellison said the cameras were working properly when Corby passed through Sydney Airport on October 8, 2004.
June 4, 2006 — Brisbane's Sunday Mail reported that since public outcry about Schapelle Corby has died down, Schapelle is writing more letters from jail in Bali to get support.
June 19, 2006 — Schapelle Corby's half-brother, James Kisina, today failed in his bid for bail while facing drug charges related to a violent home invasion. Kisina, 18, allegedly broke into a house on January 17 with two other masked men and stole cash and cannabis, The Advertiser reported today.
July 10, 2006 — Schapelle Corby celebrated her 29th birthday today — in Kerobokan jail. Her mother, Rosleigh Rose, Bali-based sister Mercedes, and her niece and nephew attended the jail to be with Schapelle.
July 11, 2006 — Schapelle Corby's lawyer announced he is preparing an extraordinary appeal to Indonesia's Supreme Court which he will present by December.
August 11, 2006 — Schapelle Corby's lawyer today lodged an appeal application for a judicial review to the Denpasar District Court, which will hear the case but pass it to the Supreme Court for a final decision, The Age reported.
August 17, 2006 — Indonesia's court today reduced Schapelle Corby's 20-year prison sentence by two months to mark Indonesia's Independence Day.
August 25, 2006 — Schapelle Corby's lawyers said today they will petition Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison for security videos taken at Sydney Airport on the day she flew out for Indonesia. This is a last-ditch bid to overturn Corby's conviction and 20-year sentence for smuggling 4.1kg of marijuana into Bali in October 2004.
October 13, 2006 — James Kisina, Schapelle's 18-year-old half brother, was convicted today of a violent, drug-related home invasion in Brisbane. Kisina was one of three masked men who broke into a Rochedale home on January 17 this year and stole cash and cannabis.
October 16, 2006 — Schapelle Corby's mother today denied that her daughter had ever had a boyfriend in prison. She was responding to an article in Australia's New Idea magazine, which had an interview with a man (Tjin Eddy Yu) the article claimed was Schapelle's prison lover.
October 17, 2006 — James Kisina, the half-brother of Schapelle Corby, was sentenced yesterday to four years' jail for his role in the violent theft of drugs and cash from a Brisbane home, The Australian newspaper reported today.
October 25, 2006 — In an extract from Schapelle's upcoming book, My Story, published in The Australian Women's Weekly today, Schapelle says she believes the Bali Nine contributed to her harsh sentence. She also says she was terrified of the Bali Nine's Renae Lawrence, who she imagined to be “a psychopathic lesbian”.
November 10, 2006 — Schapelle's book, My Story, was released today. The book paints a sad picture of Schapelle having to endure racist and sexual taunts from guards. Photos in the book show Schapelle with her new-look short hair.
2007 diary and timeline of the Schapelle Corby case
January 8, 2007 — Australia's New Idea magazine reports that Schapelle had an “unbearable” Christmas and hopes to return to Australia under a prisoner-exchange deal. She said “I may wear make-up and I may look OK, but I'm not OK ... I didn't do this.”
February 13, 2007 — A former family friend of the Corby family, Jodi Power, in a paid TV interview on Today Tonight last night, said Schapelle's sister had tried to entice Ms Power to smuggle drugs. Today's Courier-Mail newspaper says Mercedes Corby has denied the claims and said she plans legal action against the program. Jodi Power's husband has also denied his wife's claims. [Note: Ms Power's allegations were aimed at Schapelle's sister and family, but the confused report probably led many viewers to think they were aimed at Schapelle.]
February 14-15, 2007 — Allegations against Schapelle Corby and her family continued on Channel 7's Today Tonight program, which is becoming noted for Christian bashing as well as Schapelle bashing.
May 27, 2007 — Brisbane's Sunday Mail newspaper reported that a plan to move Schapelle Corby from Bali's Kerobokan prison to a facility in Java, hundreds of kilometres away, had been cancelled because conditions at Kerobokan had improved. Schapelle had said in her book, My Story, that Kerobokan was a “disgusting slum” that had no running water or power.
August 18, 2007 — Ten Islamic militants won remissions on jail terms over the horrific 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings that killed scores of Australians. But Schapelle Corby lost her expected three-month remission because she had a mobile phone in her prison cell, the Herald Sun reported.
August 21, 2007 — Schapelle Corby's mother Rosleigh Rose attacked Australia's Labor leader Kevin Rudd for not acknowledging the plight of her daughter, now serving 20 years in an Indonesian jail for drug trafficking, Melbourne's The Age newspaper reported.
September 12, 2007 — Schapelle Corby's sister Mercedes Corby and mother Rosleigh Rose are suing Australia's Channel 7 television network, claiming the broadcaster's Today Tonight program defamed them in February.
October 9, 2007 — Schapelle Corby's mother revealed in an exclusive interview that Schapelle wants to have a baby, because her maternal instinct has always been strong.
December 8, 2007 — An ex-heroin addict told police that Schapelle Corby was connected to a regular drug run between Brisbane and Bali.
December 13, 2007 — The governor of Kerobokan Prison said yesterday he was recommending that Schapelle be given a small reduction to her prison term for good behaviour.
December 15, 2007 — The author of Schapelle Corby's biography, Kathryn Bonella, says that people who have turned against Schapelle since she was jailed have been misled by total lies and innuendo.
December 25, 2007 — Schapelle Corby has been denied a Christmas day reduction in her sentence — because she had a mobile phone in her cell earlier in 2007.
December 26, 2007 — The governor of Bali's Kerobokan Prison asked the Australian consulate in Bali for the names of people who are likely to visit prisoners in his jail. This follows claims that a cruel hoax website was offering tourists the opportunity to photograph and feed Schapelle Corby.
2008 diary and timeline of the Schapelle Corby case
January 18, 2008 — Michael Corby, Schapelle's father, died after battling cancer. His death was announced today. Schapelle was reported to be distressed over the death, because she had hoped her father could have been able to visit her in jail before he died.
February 5, 2008 — The Herald Sun reported today that a Hindu preacher visiting Bali's Kerobokan jail told Schapelle Corby to “be content with what you have now”. Schapelle was also the first prisoner to try a new phone installed in the jail for prisoners to use. She called her mother.
March 4, 2008 — Channel 9's A Current Affair last night spoke to a tourist who said she took a photo in Bali of Schapelle Corby having dinner in a kebab restaurant while she should have been in her cell. But The Australian newspaper today said the program was unable to come up with a single witness who could positively identify Schapelle as being the woman in the photograph.
March 10, 2008 — Schapelle Corby today rejected allegations she and sister Mercedes were spotted eating at a Bali restaurant last month. She said she has been let out of her Bali prison home only three times in the past four years — for medical reasons.
March 20, 2008 — Queensland's chief justice has ordered an investigation into the affairs of Schapelle Corby's sister Mercedes, ABC News reported. The matter involves the payment of more than $280,000 for Schapelle Corby's book on her drug ordeal in Bali and an interview with the magazine New Idea.
March 20, 2008 — The Herald Sun reported today that Channel 7 has been accused of trying to hinder the sister of convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby in continuing her defamation case against the network. The New South Wales Supreme Court today also heard a claim that Mercedes Corby was driven out of Australia last year because of constant harassment and stalking by the network's agents.
March 28, 2008 — Indonesia's Supreme Court today ruled that Schapelle Corby's original 20-year jail sentence should stand. This was in response to Schapelle's final appeal to have her sentence reduced.
April 17, 2008 — Sydney's Daily Telegraph announced that an Australian-made documentary exploring the plight of convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby would be shown in the United States before it is shown in Australia. Ganja Queen was shot during Corby's 2005 trail in Indonesia with the cooperation of Schapelle's family, although they have not yet seen the finished film.
April 22, 2008 — News.com.au today reported that Schapelle Corby may be given a prison job that could shave years off her 20-year sentence.
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