Gentlemen,

As leaders of our country, I am appealing to your consciences to collectively do whatever it takes to bring Schapelle Corby home to Australia.
Who am I? Michael Danby knows me reasonably well…. we were contemporaries in Melbourne at college in the 70’s – I pursued a business career – Michael a political career and Michael will tell you that I am as politically oriented and active as “the man next door” – my political activism to date has been limited to voting at Federal and State elections. HOWEVER, seeing what is happening to Schapelle Corby has touched a very raw nerve with me. I have two daughters not much younger than Schapelle and every time I see Schapelle on TV or in the paper, I imagine that it just as easily could be one of my daughters (or yours for that matter) in her place.
Just because it is NOT my daughter in Schapelle’s place this time does not make any difference – how would you feel if it were your daughter in Schapelle’s place??
To see what Schapelle is being subjected to in Bali is, for me, more horrific than the pictures of the Iraqi prisoner abuse.
You will all have your opinion on the “sovereignty of other countries” and their right to govern according to their laws … fair enough. But you were also not born yesterday and you would know that a Denpasar court and jail is no more just or humane than a Nazi concentration camp.
Please do not continue to ignore the facts and REALITY of Schapelle Corby’s treatment and her so called “trial” by hiding behind the theory of “sovereign country-right to govern” argument.
Remember the outrage at the treatment of Iraqi prisoners of war – American service people were tried and convicted and we still hear on the news today about whether Australian diplomats “knew about” Iraqi prisoner abuse – he point is, the issue of Iraqi prisoner abuse is bigger than the abuse of one of our own citizens who MAY NOT be guilty. (At least the prisoners of war were imprisoned for good reason!!)
The point is, Schapelle Corby is being subjected to conditions and mental torture that is literally unspeakable.
Can we not negotiate something with the Indonesians that, in return for DFAT maintaining Bali as a “favoured” tourist destination (and not a destination with a constant “no go” travel advisory) , the Indonesians, in return agree to allow the immediate deportation of any Australians arrested for drug offences?
Please consider this issue very carefully – there will be a “tsunami” of public opinion here in Australia if events deteriorate any further - it has not happened yet but it will I am certain.
This issue has every ingredient for an astounding diplomatic triumph or leadership diaster… it is now over to you.
Alan Singer

Brighton, MELBOURNE, Victoria
http://headhunter.typepad.com

Acknowledgement to Shadows, ankh and all the others on this blog space who are actively involved for the campaigning to return Schapelle Corby to Australia and freedom. Why EVERY Australian citizen is not screaming from the rooftops about this is BEYOND me. I have written to Govt Ministers, I am writing letters daily to the Melboune Newspapers and I am "publicising" the petitions. Let's not just sit back apathetically and watch this play out to a conclusion that none of us will want to live with for the rest of our lives!!

Below is an extract from the on-line petition to FREE Scahpelle Corby. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/corby
So far, Australia with a population of some 18 million has manged to accumulate 3283 signatures. Clearly, time is running out for Schapelle as the court case draws to a close. it is my view is that many more people would sign this petition if they knew about it... So ladies, gentlemen, girls and boys of Australia, please be aware that there is something that each of us can do to register our thoughts and feelings on this issue... will it help? I hope so.. It certainly won't HURT!!

Free Schapella Corby from Bali
Created by The World for Schapelle Corby on January 23rd, 2005 at 11:27 pm AST

" We are Citizens of Planet Earth demanding the release of Schapelle Leigh Corby held presently in the Balinese jail awaiting trial. Your countries policies on treatment of human in this way is inexcusable and this non-since most stop. We are united in our front against capital punishment for this crime and shall protest with actions of our own. The following petition is signed by those whom are boycotting Indonesia for all travel, services and any companies whom are based in that country. Citizens of Earth will not sit & allow this to happen without us making this fight, and we are NOW BOYCOTTING INDONESIA UNTIL YOUR LAWS CHANGE AND MS. CORBY IS RELEASED. We will not forget about her!

Bloggers, please.. if you read this and see any validity in what I am saying and if you feel that we as a community can actually do something to make the world a better place to live in... then please send this on to three other BLOGGERS

Foreign Prisoner Support Service

Schapelle Corby is the young Australian lady who has been detained in an Indonesian jail for the last 20 or so weeks, having been charged by Indonesian authorities with the importation of cannabis to Indonesia. It is alleged that Schapelle attempted to "smuggle" a very very very (ludicrously) large bag of cannabis into Indonesia in her "Boogie Board" bag.

Schapelle is either guilty as charged... or she is the most unfortunate and unwitting victim of the drugs being "planted" in her luggage by person's unknown AFTER Schapelle said "au revoir" to her luggage at the airline check-in counter.

Leaving aside our opinions on whether we may think that Schapelle is innocent or guilty. let us for a moment look at what any reasonable person would need to see established as evidence in order for a guilty finding to be made.

The fact that the cannabis was in her luggage does not in my view prove ANYTHING other than the drugs were in her boogie board bag. The presence of the drugs in the bag DO NOT prove that they were Schapelles drugs or that she put the drugs in her bag. In order to establish guilt, there would need to be (in my view) incontravertable evidence that she purchased or otherwise obtained the drugs in Australia prior to her departure. Unless there is rock solid evidence linking Schapelle to the drugs prior to her bags being checked at the airport then Schapelle IS INNOCENT.

In my view, if there is ANY possibility that the drugs could have been placed into her luggage AFTER she checked her bags at the airline counter, then the doctrine of "reasonable doubt" and "innocent until proven guilty" must apply. Now, what are the chances that Schapelle's luggage could have been "accessed" between the airline counter at her port of departure and picking her luggage up from the luggage rotunda at her port of arrival. Has Schapelle's legal defence team brought in an AIRLINE PROCESS EXPERT to describe all the handling of Schapelle's luggage that occurred between departure and arrival? I am no airport luggage handling expert but I can imagine that there would be many, many opportunities for numerous individuals to slip a package (for whatever reason) into ANYONE's luggage - including Schapelle's, yours, mine or my kids!
 

I had a very scary experience myself some years ago when I left Dubai to go to London by air. When I arrived in london and unpacked my suitcase, three of my almost full bottles of cologne had been replaced with half empty bottles of WATER! (My first hint that something was wrong was when I saw that the lock on my hard-shell Sampsonite bag had been broken!) So, based upon my own experience and the balance of probabilities, there is every possibility that Schapelle's luggage had been accessed and the drugs planted (possibly as is being claimed for the purpose of intra-Australia travel).
So, what does this mean for us - well, if Schapelle is innocent and the drugs were "planted", then every Australian travelling to Indonesia is at risk of a similar fate - mean having drugs planted in your luggage.

And further, if the Indonesian authorities find Scapelle guilty purely on the evidence that the drugs were in her bag, I say that is a travesty of justice and an absolute deadly THREAT to every Australian who travels to Indonesia. It is a threat because the Indonesian authorities are saying, in effect, that if you come to our country, you will lose your right to justice as we in Australia know it - why on Earth would ANYONE ever want to go to another country on that basis... below is a short extract from the Sixty Minutes Television documentary on Schapelle Corby...

LIZ HAYES: Under Bali drug laws, possession is everything. The bag was Schapelle's, the drugs were Schapelle's unless she can prove that somebody else put them there. So now it is up to her legal team to try and establish her innocence because, as far as the Bali authorities are concerned, the case is closed. She's guilty.

Transcript: The accused

November 14, 2004

Reporter: Liz Hayes
Producer: Katheryn Bonella, Nick Greenaway
Here is an article from the Melbourne Age titled "New Evidence May Clear Schapelle Corby"

Headhunter