I am a close friend of the Corby family, having known them for over 25 years. I have visited Schapelle in prison on a number of occasions. I have researched Schapelle’s case extensively for over 3 years.
From my point of view, based on my long association and friendship with the family, the intimate knowledge that I have, and my research into Schapelle’s case, I have no doubt that she is suffering immeasurably and is seriously mentally ill. I also have no doubt that she is innocent, none whatsoever. In fact, I have never been more certain of anything in my entire life.
It has been suggested, by the media, that when Doctor Jonathan Phillips visited Schapelle Corby in Kerobokan Prison in August 2009, which resulted in his lengthy report on her mental condition, his report was based on a mere 15 minute examination. At least, this is what the Prison Doctor would have us believe.
Below, however, is the truth of the matter: -
Doctor Jonathan Phillips arrived in Bali on the 10th August 2009 and left late on the 11th August. On the 11th August he spent around an hour consulting with Doctor Denny Thong, the Indonesian psychiatrist who is treating Schapelle. He then went to the prison, where he examined Schapelle for nearly two hours. That afternoon, he spent several hours interviewing Schapelle’s sister, Mercedes, from whom he obtained a lot of additional information on Schapelle’s condition.
(1)*
So, as you can see, his diagnosis was not based on a 15 minute examination, as the Prison Doctor claims. You have to understand that Doctor Phillips’ report on Schapelle was a slap in the face to the Prison Authorities, who would obviously try to undermine it if they could.
Doctor Phillips is one of Australia’s most eminent psychiatrists, as his
Curriculum Vitae clearly shows.
Let me share with you, a portion of Doctor Phillips’ diagnosis:-
“SC has a moderately high risk for self-destructive behaviour and suicide. Significant factors moving her towards suicide include the presence of a treatment-resistant psychotic illness, her past history of self-damaging behaviour (on at least two occasions), risk-taking behaviour (climbing the water tower), a chronic state of demoralisation, a lack of sense of a viable future, and cultural and linguistic isolation.”
“SC has a severe treatment-resistant psychotic illness. She can now be said to have become insane. She is at ever-increasing risk in relation to her mental health as a consequence of numerous factors acting within the prison environment. She is regressed and childlike in her behaviour and extremely vulnerable to exploitation (particularly by fellow prisoners higher in the pecking order within the custodial environment). She is culturally and linguistically isolated. The only redeeming features at the present time are the direct support of her family and the medications obtained privately for her. Sadly, these matters will not save her in the longer-term.”
“She has no hope, her treatment is inadequate and cannot work in the current (prison) environment. She is condemned to a private hell which is hard to contemplate and which will probably end in death.”
On the 15th April 2010, the
Channel 9 news attempted to cast doubts on the claim that Schapelle Corby is now seriously mentally ill.
In that news bulletin, the Prison Doctor said that Schapelle was basically fine, just a bit depressed. This is in stark contrast to what he was saying back in June 2008 -
Kerobokan Prison’s doctor, Agus Hartawan, told The Sunday Age that Corby had been suffering paranoia and hallucinations, and had been medicated for several weeks. She was hospitalised because of the risk of suicide. (2)*
Renae Lawrence didn’t think Schapelle was insane, saying instead that she was “playing crazy” in a bid to win freedom. Renae was no doubt ordered to say this by the Prison Governor. This is in stark contrast to what she said in the
Woman’s Day in September 2009 -
In an exclusive interview just three weeks ago, fellow prisoner Renae Lawrence revealed that Schapelle had become increasingly disturbed in recent weeks. “She's definitely not sane any more. She talks about 'going down,' which means down into a grave,” says Renae. (3)*
I have observed Schapelle’s deterioration over the course of my visits, spanning a year and a half, and I witnessed her insanity for myself the last time I visited her. It was heartbreaking to see.
Schapelle Corby’s 20 year sentence is the highest ever handed down in Indonesian legal history for a marijuana related crime. She cannot, and will not, survive this sentence.
Many people have suggested that the ‘Baggage Handler Defence’ used by Schapelle’s legal team was a red herring, “made up” by her lawyers, since they had nothing better to run with. Robin Tampoe, her former Australian lawyer, stated this on television during the screening of ‘Schapelle Corby - The Hidden Truth’ on
Channel 9 in late June 2008. You need to understand that by this stage he was her ex-lawyer and held a serious grudge against her and her family. He lied when he said this, in order to damage Schapelle’s credibility, and that of her family. That he lied is obvious, when we look at the following disturbing revelations:-
Ray Cooper (former AFP officer) -
The Sydney Morning Herald - 8th May 2005 -
The Australian Federal Police have in the past failed to properly investigate allegations of drug trafficking at airports because serving police officers have been involved in the practice, a former senior AFP detective claims. Ray Cooper, former head of operations for the AFP's internal investigations, told the Nine Network it was well known by the AFP that unwitting passengers were being used as ‘mules’ to shift drugs between Australian domestic airports. And he said his investigations suggested some state and federal police were in league with the smugglers. (4)*
Gary Lee-Rogers (Australian Protective Service assistant inspector - turned whistleblower) -
The Sydney Morning Herald - 19th October 2004 -
Gary Lee-Rogers was onto something in the months before his mysterious death. The Australian Protective Service assistant inspector blew the whistle on what he said was corruption that compromised security at Sydney Airport before the 2000 Olympics. He met the federal MP for Eden-Monaco, Gary Nair, who contacted the then-Attorney-General, Daryl Williams. But Mr Lee-Rogers was found dead in his Queanbeyan apartment before Mr Williams could reply. Mr Lee-Rogers had told friends, relatives, and members of Whistleblowers Australia that if he disappeared it would not be suicide. (5)*
Allan Kessing (member of the Customs Air Border Security Unit - turned whistleblower) -
The Australian - 28th March 2007 -
A Former Customs officer faces up to two years in prison after being found guilty of leaking a classified report that led to the biggest overhaul of airport security in the nation’s history. Allan Robert Kessing, 59, sat motionless as the verdict was read yesterday, after three days of deliberation by the jury, shortly after 5pm in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court.
Mr Kessing’s barrister Peter Lowe told the court he planned to argue that his client's actions were vindicated by the Wheeler Report into aviation security - an unprecedented review prompted by the leaked information, which was published by The Australian. “One of the things that will be very important will be how beneficial the leak of the information was about security for Sydney airport and everyone who travels through it,” Mr Lowe said. “The Wheeler Report will vindicate in a substantial degree the fact that the leak itself, the contents of the reports that were leaked, had a very significant beneficial effect.” (6)*
Mark Standen (assistant director of investigations with the NSW Crime Commission - headed ‘Operation Mocha’ investigation into drug importation through Sydney airport in 2004/2005) -
The Canberra Times - 7th June 2008 -
Senior Australian Federal Police officers were aware of corruption allegations against Mark Standen dating back to the 1980's, former officers say. They allege Standen an assistant director of the NSW Crime Commission who has been charged with conspiring with an international syndicate to import $120 million of drugs into Australia was named by witnesses at a 1996 inquiry into corruption in the force. The inquiry, chaired by Sydney barrister Ian Harrison was set up to investigate allegations of corruption among mostly Sydney-based AFP officers. It has also been revealed that in 1982, the Stewart Royal Commission into drug trafficking heard that then Federal Narcotics Bureau agents Standen and Stephen Innsley had both been charged after being caught flushing drugs down a toilet. (7)*
Ian Chalmers (director of Macquarie Bank which owns Sydney Airport) -
The Daily Telegraph - 15th August 2007 -
A Former Macquarie Bank corporate high-flyer has had his jail sentence more than doubled for importing up to $15 million worth of cocaine into Australia. He had been found guilty of conspiring to import cocaine, not less than the commercial quantity, in a smuggling ring, which used Sydney Airport baggage handlers to help bring the drug into Australia. (This is the cocaine that arrived in Sydney on the 8th October 2004, the day Schapelle’s boogie-board bag passed through Sydney International Airport).
(8)*
Alan Conwell (airline security manager) -
The Sydney Morning Herald - 2nd June 2005 -
Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon today said airline security manager Alan Conwell was sacked on May 20 because he knew people being investigated over alleged cocaine smuggling. “That’s unacceptable in any position, particularly security,” he said. A Qantas baggage handler was dismissed last month amid investigations into a drug smuggling ring and Mr Dixon said other employees also could be involved. (9)*
So, what we have is a corrupt former AFP officer in charge of ‘Operation Mocha,’ an investigation into drug importation using passenger’s baggage. We have a corrupt Macquarie Bank director involved in the importation of cocaine on the 8th October 2004, through Sydney Airport, that the Macquarie Bank just happens to own.
We have two whistleblowers wanting to lift the lid on airport insecurity. One ends up dead before he can disclose his information, the other one ends up in court for supposedly leaking the information to
The Australian when his superiors suppressed the reports. These leaked reports lead eventually to
The Wheeler Report.
We also have an AFP officer revealing that passengers’ baggage is used to move drugs between Australian domestic airports and that corrupt federal and state police officers are involved, along with corrupt baggage handlers. Finally, we have Qantas's airline security manager getting sacked for being associated with people allegedly importing cocaine into Australia.
So, to those who harbour doubts about Schapelle’s innocence, I ask you, which scenario is more likely?
1/ That Schapelle Corby, a non drug user, with
no criminal record in Australia, who was having a two week break from caring for her dying father, decided to create history by being the first and only person, ever, to knowingly import a commercial quantity of marijuana into Bali from Australia, where it would sell for a fraction of its value in Australia. She did this by placing it in clear plastic bags, on top of her boogie-board, in an unlocked boogie-board bag with her name on it, then willingly opened the bag for Customs inspection in Bali. Once arrested, she then begged for every kind of investigation she could think of in order to make sure that her guilt was confirmed.
It is worth noting that, despite being in Kerobokan Prison, where every kind of illicit drug is readily available, Schapelle has never used illicit drugs to dull her anguish.
2/ That Schapelle Corby was the innocent victim in a web of corruption, and her boogie-board bag was used to transport marijuana from Brisbane to Sydney, then not removed there for some, as yet, unknown reason, resulting in it continuing on to Bali.
Note - something of a similar nature did occur in 1997 - see the case of Steve and Dee.
(10)* (Page 2)
This would explain the total lack of an investigation into this crime in Australia, by both the AFP and Queensland Police, because it would have exposed those who are actually guilty of it. It would also explain why not one frame of CCTV footage from Brisbane Domestic, Sydney Domestic and Sydney International Airports was ever provided to help with Schapelle's defence. Any such footage would have shown the real criminals at work.
References - in
Red*
