Do we know that the admission is honest? I hesitate to say much more because all I have to go on is a rather sympathetic news article and the hearsay of other Dopers. I presume nobody’s seen an actual transcript.
If she’s truly guilty then she’s guilty, and I can’t disagree with the outcome even if I do disagree with the law. But damn! why does twenty-somthing Australian surfer girl try to smuggle nine pounds of pot, into Indonesia of all places? Did she just think she could pay the duty on it and be told to move along, as if it were legal?
Well, yeah, but the dope was strapped on their Bodies, it’s pretty obvious they knew what they were doing.
With Schapelle a brick of MJ was found in her suitcase. Possibly it was planted there as just another scheme by the druggies to smuggle.
Does anybody know about her background? Was she involved in drugs before this incident?
Seems to me anyone carrying an unconcealed (?) packet of drugs on an airline deserves a deeper investigation into her actions. She dosn’t look THAT stupid.
Bali’s entire economy is very dependent on the tourist trade. The terrorist bombings were devastating, the Corby verdict could be a death knell. There are many, many calls for boycotting Bali by Australians – by far the largest source of Bali tourists.
Passengers are wrapping their suitcases with plastic wrap – so that they cannot be ‘tampered’ with. Amazing to see how far this is going to go, I don’t think Bali can afford to keep her locked up for 20 years…
I think what you mean is that some Australian tourists are over reacting and cancelling holidays. There are a lot more nationalities who visit Bali who haven’t heard of, and probably wouldn’t care about, Ms Corby.
Shrink wrapping luggage has been available for a while now.
And we are not talking just Bali as in ‘I don’t think Bali can afford to keep her locked up for 20 years’. Bali is simply part of Indonesia.
The way I see the problem is that:
a) People find it easier to scapegoat the Indonesian people than to try and work out where the blame really lies. It probably lies more with Australian customs and airline managment procedures than you’d like to think. I was amazed to find out that luggage that is checked in at Sydney Airport isn’t individually weighed and that weight recorded on the computer system. What the hell?
b) It wasn’t found in her suitcase, it was found in her boogie board bag (a boogie board is like a baby surfboard). Every sensible international traveller locks their suitcase. Who locks a bag containing a piece of fibreglass?
c) She probably wouldn’t have been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on the current evidence. The current evidence does not include the forensic evidence that would have been collected in say Australia or the US, namely, fingerprinting the bag. This evidence was not collected by the Indonesian investigators, for some reason.
Dear me. I think you are ignoring the obvious in regard to where the blame really lies.
Why would luggage be weighed and recorded by anyone- especially Customs (on the way out) ?
It was hidden in her bag with the boogie board. Not a heavy suitcase. If I picked that up and it was 10 pound heavier I think I may have noticed. Not to mention such bulk. As you say, it’s a piece of fibreglass. Light.
Beyond reasonable doubt- who says she wouldn’t have been found guilty? I have not seen any transcript, not have you, so how can you make that assessment?
OK, I don’t quite understand where the sarcasm is coming from here.
I take it that you have decided that the blame lies with her. In other words, you thinks she’s guilty, without having seen a transcript of the court proceedings.
For security reasons. Which is what Customs is there for.
Which suggests it wasn’t heavier in Brisbane, the last time she had access to her checked-in luggage.
Beyond reasonable doubt means “not enough evidence to find her guilty” which is the way the legal system works in Australia, the UK, the US. It doesn’t equal “innocent”, it does equal “not enough evidence”. I’m not slamming Indonesian law, since it operates along different evidential lines, but I am saying that along Westminster and US lines, there probably wasn’t enough evidence.
You’ve obviously never flown into or out of Switzerland. When you enter the country, the contents of your suitcases are weighed. No, not every shirt but the suitcase itself is weighed empty. Any unusual cases such as equipment, are completely emptied and each item is weighed. The empty cases are also weighed.
I was in Switzerland for three days and two nighs. By the time we got to Geneva to fly out, the bundle of paperwork generated by our arrival at Incoming Customs had been sent from Basel, and was waiting for us. The same ritual occurred. The weights had to match perfectly, or we were in a shitload of trouble. They are worried about gold bullion as well as drugs.
It is not unique to this case, or this country, to record weights of items being brought across their borders. One must remember- it’s their country and their borders, and their LAWS. They do as they wish.
