Schapelle Corby’s new book, the eagerly anticipated ‘My Story’, sheds light on the struggles she had with her backers and legal team.
I haven’t had the chance to read the book, but am hoping to get a copy as a birthday present, next April. ‘My Story‘ was ghost-written by Kathryn Bonella, an Australian journalist. Schapelle talks about the ineptitude of her legal team and how certain supporters (dodgy Ron Bakir) were only in it for the money.
Thankfully Schapelle has her sister Mercedes to rely on, here in Bali. She by all accounts is a true angel, and a big reason why Schapelle is in the condition she is today. All those who have read ‘My Story’, please share your opinion with us on Baliblog.
Kerobokan jail must be a sweat box right now. I was sweating at my house today, and I have access to fresh air. I’m sure anyone you visit inside will be grateful for some cold drinks, deodorant and of course, some cashola.
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{ 42 comments }
I read it and thought it very good. I think many will be surprised to \’meet Schapelle\’.
It confirms what most of us had concluded – that the performance of her legal team was sub-standard. I\’ve previously heard the comment that there are no lawyers in Indonesia, only negotiators and would be interested to hear your views on whether Schapelle was unlucky with her choice of lawyers or whether that\’s just the way it is.
Indonesia’s most famous lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, openly said that he does his best work in the judge’s chambers.
Negotiator would be a good term I think. People have told me that even when you are obviously going to win a case, your lawyer will be invited into the judge’s chambers to ‘show his appreciation’, before the verdict.
Baasically, if you are unlucky enough to fall into the ewb of the Indonesian legal system, you become a cow to be milked, by everyone involved, the cops, the lawyers, the prosecution, the jailers. No impetus for anyone to get you out quick.
Hi Nick
Glad to see you are promoting the book also. Log onto my site (it’s purely promotional) and you’ll see the link back to Bali Blog. Lets push her book for all it is worth in the hope that some of the proceeds percolate back to help Schapelle.
Nev
Smuggle Drugs Whoops didnt get rich from that one.
Well I guess the next best thing is authoring the life story .. The ups and downs of a convicted felon LMAO
The book is great!
i have read the book and its a load of crap.the comments made in realtion to the dymanic duo is bullshit.the effort that these guys made to help a victim like that no one would do.so people to not judge unless they really see the big picture.
Might buy the book once it’s had its run and goes on discount.
I think there’s more to the Schapelle Corby case than meets the eye, she might be innocent, but seems like her ending up in the slammer might be the result of her hanging around the wrong people in her past, or crossed somebody inadvertently somewhere along the line.
Makes you wonder.
Eddie Tansil, whoops didn’t get rich from smuggling drugs, well author life story and see how things pan out – not much of a post, big bag of weed smuggled from a place where good sticky-icky fetches $500 an ounce to Bali where not only it’s a fraction of that, but a well known fact they’re tough as nails with drugs, doesn’t seem like a plausible way to get rich.
Reading “Roger from Gold Coast” led me to blog here. I agree wholeheartedly with Roger and since the beginning have wondered why on earth anybody would take coals to Newcastle. Moving ganja from Adelaide to Sydney may make some sense due to the decriminalized drug laws in Adelaide (dope growing overall is harmless up to ten plants, making for a very good price relative to effort) but why take dope to Bali? It seems to make absolutely no sense.
Perhaps Es from Holland or something like that, but even then, where is the market? Tourists in Asian countries will always take any crap given to them, as if they had any alternative. Is there a local market in Bali? hardly I imagine (Nick what are your thoughts?) Any tourist with half a brain cell is scared senseless buying drugs in South East Asian countries. Surely anybody foreign in Bali would not be stupid enough to sell (to sellers, not directly) given the death penalty and low returns but of course people with no other knowledge of better markets may do that. Wikipedia as always seems to give a solid overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schapelle_Corby Reading that, this is my take on the events outlined at Wiki; She was probably involved in drug runners in Oz, proven by a drug and other convictions later in Oz against her traveling partner James Kisina (he’s out November 18th). Dope intended for Sydney from Brisbane went further due to baggage handlers failing to do their job of intercepting the dope before it was transferred for her flight to Bali. She got busted with it in Bali. Alternatively, she was besotted with some asian beach boy in Bali she met after her break up with her Japanese beach boy(who she met in the Gold Coast and later married and then soon divorced) and blindly did his bidding to bring in better buds than Bali’s best.
Whatever the case, I feel sorry for Schapelle. She comes across as thick as my love handles, but there is no crime in being stupid. I did some stupid things in Honduras and in Asian countries. Upon checking in, I once found a bag of dope wrapped in a mosquito net above my bed in a cheap backpackers in Kho Panghan before a full moon party. Was i being set up? (probably not) I thought so and buried the bugger outside my hut although finding it when I was stoned was difficult. I was much younger then and I think young Schapelle has been unlucky to be stupid enough to trust wicked people in her peer group in Brisbane who got her into this. I don’t think she brought drugs into Bali.
Nick, is there any market for illegal drugs (including dope, although this seems unlikely) such as Es etc such that it might actually even be worth going to Bali and selling there it instead of say.. Tokyo… and selling it there? Presumbly most hard or rec drugs would need to be moved from Jarkata or simply flown in. I ask you Nick, because if you live in Bali maybe you know.
Good luck Shapelle! I think you have been royally screwed, and I hope your book sales can raise enough to support the flights of family to Bali.
I hope Schappelle makes some good money through this book, she’s going to need it to when she gets out if she does.The book’s great, lets hope she’s not ripped off. The whole thing has been pathetic, she has been used constantly by lawyers and the press happy to keep her there as long as possible. The reputation of her family doesn’t help
Answer to Bonk. Where do people like you get off ?When you post crap like that on the net ,with absolutely no semblence of fact.Schapelle was going over to Bali for Mercede’s 30TH,NOT to meet some Bali beach boy.Her brother James was still in high school when they travelled to Bali,don’t know too many schoolies with $40,000 to risk on an international flight, when you can drive to Sydney from Bilinga in 11 hours. He has since got himself in trouble as Rosleigh has spent so much time in Bali, without much parental supervision over the last 2 years and James being easily lead .He is just a silly naughty boy. Anyone who knows James would know that there wouldn’t be any self respecting drug dealer dumb enough to entrust him with $40,000 worth of dope. Schapelle makes alot of good points in her book inregard to her innocence.Forget about the fact that the clear plastic bag was placed on top of the boogie board,with not so much as a towel covering it, her name address and phone number were on the bag,10 kilos of cocaine is smuggled in the very same time that Schapelle was in transit at Sydney airport.The one that really points to her innocence is that she asked the AFP to get the weight of her boogie board from Qantas.Total weight should have only been around 4 kilos allowing for the flippers.If Qantas had the weight at around 8 kilos that would have been damning evidence.There is no way Schapelle could have known that Qantas would not have the weight recorded,so why would she plead for the AFP to get the weight or any footage from the closed circuit cameras?
following on from Shun. Schapelle Corby is definitely innocent. Why would she have been fighting for the weight of her bags or for xrays of her bags or for cctv vision, fingerprints or dna testing of the marijuana. The book is the best I’ve ever read. I couldnt put it down. It is gripping and I felt for Schapelle all the way through it. I cried at the end. She should not be in that hell hole. As for the dynamic duo … they are obviously scum of the earth.
perhaps if she is innocent (and I, unlike pretty much the whole population of Australia, have no opinion either way) but the facts are she was busted and if she was smart (which she clearly is not) then instead of allowing the publicity in the beginning she and her family and her then backer whats his name, should have come up with a solution very quietly and ushered her out the back door. For my money Michelle Leslie was alot smarter in the way she dealt with it. Being dumb isn’t a crime but being dumb can just intensify the consequences considerably.
Ahhh the life of a convicted felon in print always gets the spotlight fired up again even if it is a bit of a fizzle.
Still the same questions begging an answer and the same lifeless theories from those that will protest innoncence after the guilty have faded into non-existince.
Corby is about as interesting as last weeks rain shower
Eddie,
Regarding your comment of “Corby is about as interesting as last weeks rain shower” ….
I’m not sure you understand what a huge effect this whole episode has had in reducing the number of Australian tourists coming to Bali to spend their money, and in turn supporting the thousands of Balinese people who rely on tourism for income. Personally I havent let any of the events of the past 5 years deter me from going because I have made some wonderful friends in Bali and I hate to see them suffering. Unfortunately, trying to persuade others to follow is almost impossible because they all think they are going to end up in prison. Please dont be so dismissive of such an important matter.
Brett..When some foreigners travel overseas they think they are exempt from the laws of the land to which they are traveling.. None more so than Bali where as we all know the laws are somewhat lax on the best of days.
Reality is; One or nine guilty drug smugglers duly convicted and sentenced coupled with the Australian mentality and media circus that ” They were innocent because they were Australians in Indonesia where the laws are somewhat different”, should not deter innocent people from any country coming to Indonesia.
If people are that paranoid maybe they should stay in bed for the rest of their lives.
Ohh… and as for the suffering of the Balinese…. yes yes some of them are suffering mostly because they are not making as much money as before, and yes they do go on about how the moneyed tourists from afar are not arriving as much… However, lest we forget, that Bali is a small part of a large country called INDONESIA where the majority of the population does not have access to the tourist dollar and really have it hard but dont use the media on the backs of natural and man-made disasters to line their own pockets.
One drug smuggler with a loud mouth seems insignificant by comparison.
And another thing… an hour before writing this( Middle of the day) I saw yet another half naked drunken Aussie walking the street in Kuta with the large Bintang in hand… Something to be proud of huh… Maybe thats why the Aussies are staying away…Its embarassment.
Salute to Eddie Tansil, you are the champ. Bravo. Couldn’t agree more.
kiki, wanna have eddie’s child??? sounds like it.
Sebastian, you’d just exhibit what a little “brain” you have is made off. Sucks!!! LOL
kiki, you talk about my brain? Perhaps if you stop smokin crack your brain might expand a little..then please explain what you meant…to all those whose first language isn’t jibberish.
Thanks
Check your dictionary “goose brain”.
For those with homo sapiens’ brain, it is Gibberish not JIBBERISH
1.Total nonsense talk, unintelligible or foreign language. 2.Communication using various noises, illegitimate words, nonsense or sounds. 3. Sentence, phrase or general communication not making sense, sometimes induced by several days of smoking crack or other substance.
Stop smoking crack so you can blog intelligently.
Eddie@Kiki,
What’s your point exactly?
The issue here is what if she were innocent & it’s not to be confused with the Australians/foreigners in Bali situation.
While your snark might be celebrated someplace else (try thorntree), this is someone’s life and she’s trying her best in her situation.
Please respect that.
I also read the book and thought it was a good read though a bit repetitive. Tend to agree with those who think she’s not guilty, perhaps if she had better legal representation the outcome might have been different. Still the fact that she was caught with the drugs in her possession meant that proving her innocence was always going to be tough.
is that from the goose brain dictionary? no wonder you could quote it like you did.
Respect what…
A drug smuggler tried, convicted and now trying to make a buck from her tale of woe…
The only smart thing Corby did was get caught in Indonesia and end up in the Kerobokan Hilton, where with the support of the bleeding hearts she can be a media whore.
Better I guess than participating in a “prisoner exchange” program where she would be locked up in an Aussie cell never to be heard from again whilst living a life as dyke fodder.
She tried her best ( a smuggler ) didnt work.
Voiced a book Ho-humm
Pregnancy rumours ( whoops tried that one ) Yawn
What if.. what if..
What a circus
Convictions aren’t worthy of respect if the trial isn’t fair. This trial wasn’t fair because it made no attempt to redress the failings of the arrest and investigation that unfairly denied Schapelle access to evidence.
Specifically she was denied access to fingerprint evidence, baggage weight evidence, video and eyewitness evidence of her arrest and the opportunity to have the marijuana analysed.
Without this evidence, there was effectively no way Schapelle could persuade a court of her innocence, whether guilty or not.
I am also concerned that the court accepted the testimony of the same people whose incompetence resulted in this crucial evidence being containated or ignored. There is a least a reasonable argument that there stories of a ‘guilty reaction’ from Schapelle are designed to cover for their failure to collect or preserve evidence at the scene.
I have no respect for that conviction. Schapelle should not be in prison. And she is fully entitled to write a book to put her point of view.
Well I guess thats that then.
The trial wasn’t fair….She’s an Angel
Duhhhh
More fool to those that believe she aint guilty
and aliens reside in Area 51… the list is endless.
LMFAO
You are a lucky man Eddie, that you can experience the joy of body-shaking laughter merely from hearing a view contrary to one of your own.
Its a Gift…
One thing is for sure though.. I’m sitting here catching the rays..no steel bars obstructing the view.. looking forward to an a la carte dinner.
WHY… Because I’m not a criminal / drug smuggler with cock and bull stories as an alibi.
Simple really
For those of you who haven\’t worked it out yet, Eddie is winding you up. How do I know this? Simple. No-one could seriously be that narrow minded.
Yeah well after all this B…S… I’ve read from our lovely guy Eddie, i just wanna say something.
I live now 4 years in Indonesia and one thing is for sure: there is NOT such a thing called ” Law System ” or even something close to it in Bali.
CORRUPTION !!!!
It’s a way of living ( especially in Bali )and people like Eddie who like to close they eyes, are all around.
( Or should i call it a way of survive? )
Witch depends? Right money !
Well its not always that bad, you can get used to it, or better used it for your needs.
I don’t say i agree to it, but if you don’t, you just end up like Schapelle or other well known foreigner in jail or kicked out of Indonesia.
If you just spinning with the people and pay, it won’t happen. ( not meaning real illegal things, like drugs etc )
Schapelle never had a fair chance for her trail.
All we, who living or travel to 3th world country’s, might not forget how poor the people and they education are, we cant measure it on European or overseas country’s.
I just wish people like Eddie try to think first, before spamming such a sh…
I lived 9 years in Indonesia and was a consultant to a law firm there. As far as I\\\’ve seen of this case, she\\\’s innocent. Not much chance of a fair trial in Indonesia – what\\\’s more a fair media in Australia who milked her for ratings success and then dumped her so that Canberra wouldn\\\’t be embarassed in front of their political bosses in Jakarta. Some system … some media … some government…
Well SeanJ.
I’m Glad you’re making sense and obviously perpeptuating the culture of corruption….
Eddie is a voice of reason amongst the blind that like to believe all is bad regarding Indonesia and the circus that is Shapelle Corby and her trailer park family.
Guilty or Innocent ( I think not )..
What a grand waste of time she and her followers are .
One in 6 Billion ! Move on, Get a life
Others in this world have if far worse than your bimbo drug smuggler.
One in 6 billion, sure. But if you follow down that path we end up not caring about anybody and what an empty existence that would be. Fortunately we do find ourselves caring about all sorts of people; we don’t know why, we just do.
Of course it’s your right not to care about Schapelle. I have a similar view about Steve Irwin. But since I have no interest in him I don’t go searching out internet message boards about him to post strong opinions as if I was some kind of expert.
Luckily the world is one of balance. For every close minded person like Eddie, there is someone like Geoff who is at least prepared to ask “what if” and not just accept what others offer as fact. To say “others in this world have it far worse” is completely true Eddie but where do you draw the line? At which one of those 6 billion do we throw up our hands and say “they can fend for themselves, others are worse off”?
Humans
Upright Species
Biggest Brain, Biggest ego
Looking for answers to the two questions:
Where do we come from?
Where are we going?
A Virus on this planet.
You know its interesting watching the news lately
Jakartans upto their armpits in water, quietly and resolutely getting on with their lives albeit somewhat soggy.
Quite a contrast to the Americans during Katrina.
When you’re up to your armpits in shite you can scream your lungs out … most likely result you’ll drown with a mouthful.
Call me what you like, uncaring, narrow minded whatever, I just like to wind up those that wanna be “emPATHETICS” chasing the bandwagon of yesterdays ” lost ” cause.
Haven’t read Schapelle’s book but like they say, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story”.
Isn’t a good friend of hers about to blow the whistle on Australian national TV? Looks like it won’t be the Indonesian legal team made to look like the bad guys.
guilty as charged miss corby…..sadly the vermin you surrounded yourself with will profit from your incarceration…this includes your family!!!!!!
hmmm it seems our perfect little angel wasn\’t such an angel after all. And to all those bleeding hearts who paid money to buy her novel…HAHA.
The Jury’s decision is in
By ninemsn staff and wires
Ninety-three per cent of ninemsn readers who voted in a poll yesterday said they believed the latest allegations against the Corby family.
Of the 242,868 people who voted in ninemsn’s exclusive poll, an overwhelming 225,937 said they believed allegations that Schapelle and Mercedes Corby were involved
Robin I couldnt agree more!
I dont think anyone from the Corby Circus hasnt had their finger in the pie??
Including the ex best friend, but if ya go to a country & know what the punishment is for breaking the law then I say do the time & stop popping up on TV, I’m sick of them all!
How can viewers be so gullible. the execs at channel seven apparently said that. the “friend” of corby was paid $100 thousand for her accusations. Mercedes and her mum are not charged with anything … I hope they clean up in court. since when can people go around makinga accusations based on nothing.
Word has it that jodie was speaking every day wtih Ron Bakir and Robin Tampoe and that they were pushing her to do there dirty work. There good mate is the producer at today tonight – he deliverd jodi power to themand got the job. Big incentives.100K to jodi power, ratings win for today tonight, job for bourke and revenge for bakir. How quick people are to forget that schapele had no motive. it is not worth more in bali than in australia. her sister and her sisters husband were not even interviewed by the bali police – how was she going to sell it. A bunch of lies by an ex friend who was paid $100K and is good friends with bakir aint going to convince me schapele is guilty.
Maybe some people just never really believed she was innocent. As far as being gullible goes, I would have to take my hat off to all those who a) flown to Bali to support her,b) not flown to Bali to support her, c) sent, given or in any way parted with cash of any kind in relation to the corby case at all, d) bought the book, read the book or believed her story without ever considering the possibility that maybe she did do it. As for me well whether she did it or didn’t I don’t really care as it won’t affect my life or anyone I know (apart from the few gullible friends I have who believe her every word). She is there surviving I am here surviving. Life isn’t fair. Get over it.
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