Schapelle Corby

Schapelle Corby
File:Schapelle Corby.jpg Schapelle Corby inside Kerobokan prison
Status	Imprisoned
Occupation	Shop assistant
Spouse	Divorced
Parent(s)	Michael Corby (deceased) Rosleigh Rose
Conviction(s)	Importation of marijuana
Criminal penalty	20 years in prison IDR 100,000,000 fine

Schapelle Leigh Corby (born 10 July 1977) is an Australian woman convicted and imprisoned in Indonesia for drug smuggling.

Corby is serving a 20-year sentence (for which she has received approximately five months in remissions) for the importation of 4.2 kg (9.3 lb) of cannabis into Bali, Indonesia. She was convicted and sentenced in Bali on 27 May 2005 by the Denpasar (Indonesia) District Court and currently serves her sentence in Kerobokan Prison, Bali. On appeal, her conviction and sentence were confirmed with finality by the Indonesian Supreme Court. No further legal manoeuvres on her part are possible; she may petition for clemency from Indonesia's president, but would have to admit guilt to do so.

Corby has maintained from the time of her arrest that the drugs were planted in her boogie board bag and that she did not know about them. Her trial and conviction were a major focus of attention for the Australian media. Her due release date, with remissions, is currently 12 April 2024.

Early life

Corby lived in the Australian town of Tugun on the Gold Coast in Queensland. She enrolled in a part-time beauty therapy course at a TAFE institute, finishing two of four course modules. She then worked in her family's fish and chip shop. Her father worked as a coal miner. Her elder sister, Mercedes, married a Balinese man and they were on holiday in Bali at the time of Corby's arrest.

Corby was once married to a Japanese man. Her former husband gave an interview with an Australian magazine, New Idea, under the pseudonym "Kimi Tanaka" in which he described their romance and marriage. According to Tanaka, the two met in the mid-1990s while he was on a working holiday visa and employed at the supermarket where Corby shopped. One day she spoke to him in Japanese and the two later began dating. After his return to Japan, Corby continued to visit him and the two married on 19 June 1998 in the isolated town of Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture. While living in Omaezaki she worked at a traditional Japanese inn. Her husband also found work in the hospitality industry and as a seasonal worker on nearby tea farms. Her neighbours had good memories of her, but observed that she seemed lonely. She and her husband increasingly quarrelled, leading to the couple's separation and Corby returning to Australia in July 2000. The couple's divorce was finalised in 2003. Tanaka soon remarried and became a father and, after October 2004, did not have any further contact with Corby.

Returning home to Australia, Corby had a stopover in Bali where she had been five times since the age of sixteen, though some of those trips were stopovers on her way to or from Japan. Template:Australian criminals

Arrest and trial

Arrest

On 8 October 2004, Corby was apprehended by Indonesian Customs agents at Ngurah Rai Airport on her arrival in Bali from Australia. Corby was found to have 4.2 kg (9.3 lb) of cannabis in her unlocked boogie board bag. Customs officer Gusti Nyoman Winata alleged that she tried to prevent him from opening the compartment of the bag containing the cannabis. Corby denied this allegation during the trial, saying she originally opened the bag after being asked by Winata whose bag it was.

Corby stated that she had no knowledge of the drugs. Her defence centered on the theory that she had become an unwitting drug courier for what was supposed to have been an interstate shipment of drugs between Brisbane and Sydney in Australia.

Prima facie case

According to Professor Tim Lindsay, director of the University of Melbourne's Asian Law Centre, the prosecution had a prima facie case against Corby, established merely by her possession of the drugs, regardless of her knowledge. In a lecture given at Melbourne University, he said: "Suffice to say that being caught with drugs on you, whether strapped to you or in a bag that is your property, is probably going to be sufficient in most instances for the prosecution to establish a prima facie case. The question then arises as to how that prima facie case is answered by a defence team."

It has been suggested that the strength of the evidence at hand would have meant Corby faced likely conviction had she been tried for the same offence in Australia.

Defence

Corby's lawyers argued that she had no knowledge of the cannabis until customs officials at the airport found it. They claimed that baggage handlers in Brisbane may have put the cannabis in her bag without her knowledge, acting as part of an inter-state drug smuggling network. According to her lawyers, the cannabis was to be removed in Sydney, but was not. Corby's former lawyer, Robin Tampoe, stated in a program shown on Channel Nine Australia on 23 June 2008 that he made up the claim about the baggage handlers, a central argument in Corby's defence that led to widespread speculation about corruption among airport staff.

Three of Corby's travelling companions testified in court that they had seen her pack the bag before leaving for the airport and that only the flippers and yellow boogie board were inside it. They also said that Corby opened the bag herself at the customs counter.

John Ford's allegations

John Patrick Ford, a prisoner at Port Phillip Prison who was awaiting trial and was subsequently convicted on unrelated charges, was flown to Indonesia to give evidence in Corby's defence.

Ford testified that he overheard a conversation in prison between two men and alleged that one of the men planted the marijuana in Corby's boogie board bag in Brisbane with the intention of having another person remove it in Sydney. He stated that the drugs were owned by Ron Vigenser, who had been a prisoner at the same jail as Ford. He stated that a mix-up resulted in the marijuana not being removed and subsequently being transported to Indonesia, all without Corby's knowledge. He refused to name the man who he claimed planted the drugs. In the Australian media, Vigenser has strongly denied any connection with the drugs and has reportedly given a statement to the Australian Federal Police.

A $1,000,000 AUD reward was offered for information to substantiate claims made by Ford about baggage handlers with no result. Following his return from Bali, Ford was convicted of rape. Subsequently, in prison, he was beaten and stabbed and then held in solitary protective custody.

The prosecution pointed out that his evidence was entirely hearsay and that he was facing trial for several serious offences in Australia. Legal commentators in Australia have remarked that Ford's testimony, as hearsay, would be inadmissible evidence in an Australian court. Professor Tim Lindsay stated that the defence case contained "virtually nothing that was admissible evidence to be given weight under Indonesian criminal procedure law". An Indonesian judge referred to Ford's evidence as "Hearsay upon hearsay".

Alleged involvement of baggage handlers

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Corby flew out of Sydney on the same day (8 October 2004) as a large shipment of cocaine was shipped out of the airport by a drug ring involving corrupt baggage handlers. During the week of 9 May 2005 several arrests occurred in Australia related to cocaine smuggling through Sydney airport. Her defence claimed that the cannabis was planted in her bag by mistake by baggage handlers.

However, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner, Mick Keelty, stated that a key aspect of her defence was not supported by the available intelligence and that the cocaine-smuggling ring which had been discovered involved the reception of shipments of drugs from overseas, not the transportation of drugs domestically.

In a June 2008 documentary, Schapelle Corby: The Hidden Truth, Corby's former lawyer, Robin Tampoe, said that he fabricated the defence theory that Australian baggage handlers could have planted the drugs in Corby's luggage and that former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer told him he suspected Corby's brothers were behind the convicted drug smuggler's crime.

Ron Bakir

Main article: Ron Bakir

Ron Bakir, a Gold Coast entrepreneur and discharged bankrupt, claimed that he had retained the services of the Australian law firm Hoolihans to investigate the origin of the drugs. He made statements suggesting that he would fund Corby's defence. Bakir later registered a company titled Schapelle Corby Pty Ltd. It was reported that he told the Corby family that they owed him $500,000, though Bakir denied this.

Bakir accused the prosecution team (chief prosecutor Ida Bagus Wiswantanu) of seeking a bribe to reduce the requested sentence. The prosecution team and the Indonesian government vehemently denied that this occurred. Corby's legal team were openly angry with Bakir since this could cause the imposition of a more severe penalty.

Bakir cut ties with the Schapelle Corby case on 24 June 2005 after Corby wrote a letter asking him to disassociate himself. Schapelle Corby Pty Ltd was voluntarily deregistered on 23 October 2005.

Pleas to be acquitted

Corby made numerous emotional pleas to be released. At the defence's last address to the court, on 29 April 2005, Corby said to the three judges:

I cannot admit to a crime I did not commit. And to the judges, my life at the moment is in your hands, but I would prefer if my life was in your hearts....And your Honour, I ask of you to show compassion, to find me innocent, to send me home. Saya tidak bersalah ("I am not guilty", in Indonesian).

Corby also wrote to the case's prosecutor, Ida Bagus Wiswantanu, and judges with a request for leniency.

Controversy

The following points have been identified as flaws in the way Corby and her team presented her case:

• The rejection of an offer of experienced defence barristers: After the verdict the Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, revealed that the government had offered the free help of two highly skilled Queen's Counsel and that this offer was rejected. However, the family took up the offer for the High Court appeal but after more damaging allegations of bribery by the barristers, further assistance was refused.
• The Australian Federal Police alleged that an offer to DNA test the cannabis was refused by Schapelle Corby's legal team. It was revealed in an ABC interview with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, that the Indonesian Police rejected the Australian Government's request to have the AFP test the drugs.
• Failure to attack the weaknesses of forensic evidence. The bag of cannabis was not weighed or fingerprinted by the Indonesians. Tim Lindsay of the University of Melbourne, an expert on Asian law, suggested that a greater focus on the weaknesses of the forensic evidence could have been helpful.
• Use of hearsay evidence: No substantive probative evidence was presented to back up the suggestion that baggage handlers had put the drugs in Corby's bag. Hearsay evidence from John Patrick Ford was a distraction and had no chance of being accepted as having probative value.
• Persons associated with Corby publicly attacked the Indonesian judges and legal system in the media. (Notably Ron Bakir suggested that bribery was inherent in the system.)

Criticism of the prosecution's case included:

• The bag of cannabis was not fingerprinted by the Indonesian custom officials or police, nor analysed to determine its origin.
• No attempt was made to search or weigh Corby's other luggage, even after she demanded it, though again, there was no obligation upon Indonesian police to do so. Her belongings were searched after she was taken into custody.
• CCTV cameras at the Bali airport could corroborate or contradict Corby's account of what happened in customs. The prosecutor said the tapes were not checked. The defence requested to see them. Corby's mother claims that Schapelle requested the CCTV footage be shown in court, to which the judge replied, "We will use that if we need to". Corby's mother claims the footage was never shown.
• According to the documentary Ganja Queen, which aired on HBO, the Closed-Circuit TV Cameras (CCTV) within the airport were not operable the day of Corby's flight.
• In an interview, the prosecutor explained how the size of the bag containing the cannabis was similar to the boogie board bag.

Verdict and sentence

The verdict in the Corby trial was broadcast live on television in Australia and the Nine Network's television coverage was also broadcast live in New Zealand. The coverage included the 80 page trial outline, the verdict and sentencing.

On 27 May 2005, Corby was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years' jail. She was also fined 100,000,000 IDR (about $12,663 AUD), with an additional six months if unpaid. The defence and prosecution appealed separately to the High Court with the defence appealing for a retrial and the prosecution appealing for life imprisonment.

Appeals

On 5 July 2005, the High Court ruled that the case should be reopened by the district court, allowing the defence to call new witnesses. The onus was on the defence team to call sufficient witnesses to prove that Corby did not place the drugs in her boogie board bag. One man was named as the owner of the drugs in Corby's bag. He was named as a key witness, but he said that he 'knows nothing'.

On 14 October 2005, Bali's High Court reduced the sentence to 15 years. Both sides again appealed, this time to Indonesia's Supreme Court.

On 19 January 2006, the Indonesian Supreme Court overturned the five year reduction in her sentence on appeal and reinstated the original 20 year jail term handed down. The court also ordered that the evidence - the bodyboard bag and drugs - be destroyed, signalling that the case was now closed.

The three judge panel also rejected a final appeal from Corby, whose lawyers had been seeking a lighter sentence or acquittal. This rejection meant that all legal avenues are now exhausted unless exceptional new evidence can be produced to reopen the case.

On 25 August 2006, Schapelle Corby appeared before the judges of the Denpasar District Court on an extraordinary appeal. Her lawyers submitted a letter from an Australian government official that CCTV cameras were operating at Sydney airport on the day she left and indicated that they hoped that the footage (although none has been shown to exist) would show drugs being put into Corby's bag. Corby's lawyers also alleged that the trial court did not have evidence of actual ownership of the drugs and so erred in convicting her. The judges agreed to wait ten days to allow for footage to be presented before sending the record to the Supreme Court. There was no possibility of this appeal increasing the term of the current sentence.

Corby was scheduled for transfer to the Sukun Women's Prison at Malang, near Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya in East Java, due to prison overcrowding at Bali's Kerobokan Prison. On 26 May 2007, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the move had been postponed indefinitely due to what an Indonesian official described as improved conditions at Kerobokan.

On 28 March 2008, the Indonesian Supreme Court rejected Corby's final appeal against her sentence. With the failure of this appeal, Corby's sole recourse is clemency from Indonesia's president - but to be eligible for consideration, she would have to renounce her claims of innocence and admit guilt. Indonesian president Yudhoyono has previously stated that he opposes pardons for drug offenses.

Remissions

Indonesia grants sentence cuts of up to six months, twice a year - once to mark Independence Day and another to mark major religious holidays according to a prisoner's faith.

On 17 August 2006, Indonesia's Independence Day, Corby received a two-month remission on her 20-year jail term. On 26 December 2006, it was reported she had received another month's remission for good behaviour, advancing her expected release date to July 2024. On 18 August 2007, it was announced that Corby lost her chance to have her sentence cut further because she was caught with a mobile phone. The offence with the mobile phone also cost her the customary Christmas remission of one or two months for 2007. In addition, visiting rules were tightened after an apparent hoax when a bogus tour operator advertised that tourists could have their photo taken with Corby in exchange for money.

On Indonesia's Independence Day (17 August 2008) Corby received a further remission of three months, making her new release date 12 April 2024. Corby did not receive a Christmas remission in 2008 for unspecified reasons.

On Indonesia's Independence Day (17 August 2009) she received a 4 month further remission

Seized photographs

It was reported that a joint South Australian and Queensland police operation had seized photographs of Corby with a man charged with marijuana smuggling after a police search of the alleged dealer's home. It was reported in the media that the photos had been taken prior to Corby's arrest in Bali.

After the reports, Corby's mother, Rosleigh Rose, flew to Adelaide, entered police headquarters and demanded (unsuccessfully) to see the photographs. She alleged that the photographs were taken with Corby in prison in Bali.

In January 2006, the man in the photographs, Malcolm McCauley, told Adelaide Now that he had visited Corby in Bali twice in 2005 — but only as a tourist offering support during her drugs trial. McCauley said he first met Corby at her court hearing in May 2005. He said Corby's mother invited him to visit Corby at Kerobokan Prison the following day. Despite claims that the photos had been taken prior to Corby's arrest, McCauley said the photos were taken at an empty fish pond at the prison where the two were permitted by prison guards to sit and talk.

Effect on relations with Indonesia

Schapelle Corby support poster in Sydney

The Corby case generated intense controversy in Australia, and at times was expressed publicly with a perceived anti-Indonesian bias, causing tension in Australia's relationship with Indonesia. Mainstream Indonesian media showed minimal interest in the story with the small exception of Bali newspapers. Some small-circulation English language publications such as The Jakarta Post and the Bali Sun gave moderate levels of coverage.

A letter was delivered to the Indonesian embassy in Canberra containing an unknown substance on 31 May 2005. It was later found to be non-toxic and was considered a hoax.

It was frequently reported in Australian and Indonesian media that many Australians called aid agencies and demanded donations for the 2004 Tsunami relief be refunded. In response, officials of Australia's largest agencies — including World Vision, headed by Tim Costello — stated publicly that only a small number of people had made demands for refunds.

Australian government response

During the trial, Corby wrote to the then Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, saying in part, "as a father and as a leader, I plead for your help. I did not do this. I beg for justice. I don't know how much longer I can do this. Please bring me home."

Howard was quoted as saying in response: "I feel for her. I understand why there's a lot of public sympathy for her; I would simply say that I hope justice is done and it's a fair and true verdict ... I would ask the rhetorical question: My fellow Australians, if a foreigner were to come to Australia and a foreign government were to start telling us how we should handle [it], we would react very angrily to that."

The Australian Labor Party generally supported the government's approach to the case in not wanting to interfere in Indonesia's judicial system, while Australian Greens leader Bob Brown condemned the verdict.

The Australian Government is in talks with Indonesia for a prisoner exchange program, which could include Corby. However, there is still no prisoner exchange treaty program between Australia and Indonesia and Corby has yet to comment if she would take it if it was to become an option.

Media and public response

There was considerable media interest in and popular discussion of Schapelle Corby's predicament. The conspiracy theory that Australian baggage handlers had placed the drugs in her baggage received some attention. For many months, every minor development in the case was highlighted on prime time TV. For example, a minor "collapse" in the court engendered much erroneous speculation that she was pregnant to her former financial backer, Ron Bakir.

A poll commissioned and published in June 2005 by the Sydney Morning Herald found that opinion was divided whether Corby was guilty but there was a perception that the trial had not been carried out fairly. In Australia, over 100,000 people signed a petition that they believe Corby should be freed. In Indonesia, however, about 40 protesters gathered on 5 June 2005 at the Australian embassy in Jakarta calling for Corby to receive the death sentence and carrying placards with comments such as '"Corby, drug dealer, must die"'.

On 3 March 2008, pictures of what were said to be Corby and her sister Mercedes were shown on A Current Affair, taken after tourists noticed the women having dinner at a bar at Kuta, a town near the Bali airport. Rose denied that it was them.

A documentary concerning Corby's arrest, trial and imprisonment, Ganja Queen, was produced by Janine Hosking and Steve Hosking in 2007. An extended version, Schapelle Corby: The Hidden Truth, was aired on Australian television by the Nine Network in June 2008.

Prison life

Corby's cell block is shared with 85 other women. She spends her time assisting others with personal grooming and making jewellery. During an interview by The Herald Sun on 12 May 2009, Corby expressed her feelings of running a beauty school inside the jail. Her proposal was being considered by jail authorities.

Treatment for depression

Corby was taken from her prison to a Bali hospital in June 2008 to be treated for depression. During her stay, she was allowed to go to a nearby store with her family and a police escort to purchase clothing and ice cream. The store attendant stated that he saw Corby laughing and stated, "She doesn't look sick."

On 2 July 2008, she was permitted to leave her hospital ward under armed guard to visit a beauty salon located within the hospital grounds to have her hair done and for a pedicure. While she was at the salon, word of her presence got out and, upon leaving the salon, Corby was faced with a large number of reporters. Corby attempted to hide her face as she left the salon and her doctor stated that her condition was "back to zero" and that additional treatment for depression would be needed. On 9 July 2008, she was returned to the prison, ending a stay of two and a half weeks in the hospital. Corby was again taken to hospital on 22 May 2009 for depression. In August 2009, an Australian psychiatrist believed to have been hired by the Corby family opined in New Idea magazine, that Corby's mental condition was deteriorating seriously in the prison, and urged that she be transferred to an Australian hospital, or at least an Indonesian one. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh supported Corby serving her time in Australia.

Related persons

Family background and context

Corby's mother Rosleigh Rose has six children with Schapelle being the third. Her marriage to Michael Corby produced Mercedes (1974), Michael Junior (1976) and Schapelle (1977). Corby's parents separated around 1979. Michael Corby died in 2008. Rose's second marriage produced Clinton Rose, described by Michael Corby Senior as "the black sheep of the family".

Rose's third marriage, to Tongan-born James Kisina, produced James Sioeli Kisina (1987) and Melenae Kisina (1990). Rose's subsequent partner, Greg Martin, died of cancer in April 2008.

Michael Corby

During the 1970s, Schapelle's father, Michael Corby, was fined for possession of cannabis. He indicated that he was fined AUD$400 for possession of two grams of cannabis. However, he stated that the cannabis was not his, saying that "Some girl had it and they busted the whole joint and I had to go along for the ride." He also stated that he had had about a "half-dozen" drunk driving convictions, but added, "Who hasn't?"

A quantity of cannabis weighing 5 kg (11 lb) was seized from a property located beside property that Michael Corby owned but did not live at one month prior to his daughter's arrest. Corby's father and the neighbour had also lived in adjacent properties in Middlemount, Queensland, whilst both worked at the German Creek Mine during the 1990s. A Middlemount resident described them as "pretty friendly". Middlemount is some 500 km north of the location on which the cannabis was found.

Michael Corby died of bowel cancer on 18 January 2008.

In July 2008, the Lateline program reported allegations that Corby's father had been involved in transporting drugs to Bali three weeks before her arrest. Michael Corby denied ever being a drug dealer. In September, 2008, Lateline aired an apology for the allegations.

Clinton Rose

Corby's half-brother, Clinton Rose, has spent time in jail for a range of offences. He was serving a 15 months sentence in Queensland for breaking and entering and fraud. This was his second time in prison. In January 2002, Rose was convicted of drug possession. He had pleaded guilty to what the Southport District Judge, Robert Hall, described as a "campaign of crime". Rose pleaded guilty to a total of 62 charges accumulated over a six-month period.

James Kisina's arrest

Kisina was travelling with Corby when she was arrested in Bali. He had also been carrying the bodyboard bag before the arrest and had appeared in the media to support his sister.

On the same day as the reinstatement of Corby's original sentence, Kisina appeared in a Brisbane magistrates court on drug possession and assault charges. Kisina, along with two friends, invaded the home of a well-known drug dealer, tied up the occupants and assaulted a male occupant before fleeing with a quantity of cannabis and cash. Police stated that the residents were threatened with an iron bar and menaced with a machete. On 17 January 2006, Queensland Police found cannabis in the home of Schapelle Corby's mother and half-brother.

Police stated that the house which Kisina had broken into had been watched by police for some time and that the occupant of the home was a known drug dealer. Kisina's lawyer denied this contention and claimed his client broke into the home believing its occupants may have had information that could assist in Schapelle Corby's sentence appeal. On 8 March 2006, Kisina appeared in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court in relation to the drug-related home invasion and was committed to stand trial after a committal hearing in June.

In Beenleigh District Court, on 13 October 2006, Kisina pleaded guilty to eight charges: two counts of deprivation of liberty, two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and one count each of producing a dangerous drug, possessing a dangerous drug, possessing an item used in a criminal offence and entering a dwelling. He was sentenced on 16 October 2006 to four years' imprisonment, to be suspended after 10 months. Kisina had spent 9 months on remand. He was released from prison on 18 November 2006.

A senior Queensland Police detective raised a link between Kisina and Corby's arrest in Bali, but later admitted his claims did not meet the "standard of proof" required to take action against Kisina.

Jodi Power's allegations

On 12 February 2007, Jodi Power, a longtime Corby family friend, appeared on current affairs television program Today Tonight during a paid interview filmed in December 2006. Power, with her two children, had lived for months in Bali during the trial to support Schapelle Corby, made allegations that Corby's sister Mercedes had previously asked Power to transport drugs to Bali. Power also alleged that Mercedes had confessed to smuggling compressed cannabis concealed inside her body into Indonesia.

Power claimed that she had seen a vacuum sealed plastic bag similar to the one Schapelle Corby was convicted of using to transport the cannabis to Indonesia at Mercedes Corby's house. She said,"They were getting marijuana out of it. It looked like the same bag." In a further inverview, when asked if Schapelle Corby had taken drugs, Power replied, "Yes ... I know she's had ecstasy, speed, cocaine."

Power took three polygraph tests on the program, failing the first but passing the next two. She maintained that she had told the truth about Schapelle Corby but had failed the first polygraph test because she had lied in response to personal questions relating to herself.

Power alleged that the Corby family had lied when stating they had no connections to cannabis. Photographs shown on the program reveal Mercedes smoking what appears to be cannabis. Mercedes Corby has admitted to having "the occasional puff (of marijuana) whilst a teenager" and indicated that it was her in the photographs shown on Today Tonight, but that they were taken at age 17. Power herself has admitted to marijuana use—at the Corby house.

In response to the statements made by Power, Mercedes Corby was quoted as saying, "Schapelle is in her final appeal and for Jodi to come out and lie is low", stating that the claims can damage Corby's appeal.

Mercedes Corby was interviewed in response to Power's claims on 14 February 2007 on A Current Affair.

Power's mother, Margaret Power, was interviewed on the 13 February 2007 edition of Today Tonight. She stated that her daughter was telling the truth and then suggested that Mercedes Corby also take a polygraph test, expressing her belief that she would fail it.

Today Tonight reported that the polygraph expert who conducted the lie detector test on Jodi Power has received numerous death threats. On 30 March 2007, Mercedes Corby filed suit for defamation against Today Tonight and its producers and staff. The matter was scheduled for initial hearing on 15 May 2007.

On 29 May 2008, the Seven Network was found to have defamed Mercedes Corby for implying that she was a drug smuggler and a drug dealer and also that she posed a threat to the safety of Jodi Power. Mercedes Corby's barrister described her to the jury as "an ordinary Australian" subjected to a "trial by media" solely because Schapelle Corby was "locked up in a stinking jail in Bali". The jury upheld the network's defence of truth for stating that Mercedes Corby possessed marijuana.

The case was subsequently settled on undisclosed terms. Corby's mother Rosleigh Rose also received a settlement from the Seven Network as a consequence of the same program.

Autobiography

File:Corby My Story.jpg

Cover of My Story.

In November 2006, Corby released an autobiography entitled "My Story". The book has sold more than 100,000 copies. Copyrights for the book were assigned by Corby to her sister, Mercedes, and co-author Kathryn Bonella in a move some believe will allow Corby to access proceeds from the sale of the book and avoid Australian laws which restrict convicted criminals from profiting from the proceeds of crime. However, in March 2007, the Queensland Court of Appeal barred the Corby family from spending money generated by the book, pending a claim by the Commonwealth under laws which prevent those who commit crimes from profiting by them. The sum of $267,500 has been frozen pending forfeiture proceedings.

It was also revealed that Qantas had banned any advertising or sales of the book in their terminals as it was deemed "inappropriate".

In July 2007, a Queensland court granted the government the right to interview four individuals in the publishing industry, who were not named, in order to secure evidence. It was also revealed that the proceeds from the book, as well as from a subsequent paid interview, be deposited in the name of Mercedes Corby's Indonesian husband.

Schapelle Corby's biography was re-titled "No More Tomorrows" for international sales and is availabe in six languages: English, Spanish, Poruguese, Polish and Dutch.

See also

• Australia-Indonesia Prisoner Exchange Agreement
• Bali Nine
• Illegal drug trade
• Legal issues of cannabis
• List of Australians in international prisons
• Michelle Leslie

Additional references

• Bonella, Kathryn (2008). No More Tomorrows/My Story. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1845963865.
• Wilson, Tony (2008). Schapelle: The Facts, The Evidence, The Truth. New Holland. ISBN 1741107113.
• "Corby lodges lastditch appeal". The Age. 11 August 2006.
• "Snapped with alleged dealer". The Sydney Morning Herald. December 11, 2005.
• "Here's a thriller for a long flight". The Sydney Morning Herald. September 21, 2005.
• "I ask for you... to find me innocent". The Age. 29 April 2005.
• "Crowe heartbroken at Corby's plight". The Age. 22 April 2005.
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