Corby a loser in Spygate?
AN INDONESIAN lawmaker says claims that Australia spied on Indonesia should be taken into account in deciding Schapelle Corby's parole.
As anger continues to grow in Indonesia over the phone tapping allegations, a powerful parliamentary committee says it will summon the Justice and Human Rights Minister in the next two weeks.
"The spying should be used as an additional consideration for the Justice and Human Rights Minister in Corby's parole process," Aziz Syamsuddin told News Ltd.
Mr Syamsuddin is the deputy chair of the House of Representatives Commission 111 on legal affairs. His comments come as the Bali Jail Governor says Corby has been anxiously asking about when her parole will be granted.
'WE SPY ON YOU TOO': GENERAL
"If I am the Minister, I will reject Corby's parole. But I am not the minister. So, we only can give suggestion to him," Mr Syamsuddin said, as Indonesians continued to vent their fury over the claims that the phones of their leaders were tapped by Australian spies.
Mr Syamsuddin said the commission would have a meeting with the Justice Minister in the next two weeks to discuss issues around Corby's parole application.
"Australia spying is harassment toward Indonesia. Indonesia should give a sanction to Australia. The sanction could be taking back our ambassador in Australia to Indonesia or even casting out the Australian ambassador from Indonesia," he said.
The Justice Minister, Amir Syamsuddin, has the final say on Corby's parole, which has now been bogged down in bureaucratic red tape for weeks.
Officials in Bali have given it the green light but Jakarta has the final sign-off. Several issues remain outstanding - an Immigration Department letter giving her permission to live in Indonesia while on parole needs to be secured, along with a new guarantee letter from the Australian Government.
Indonesian officials recently said the Australian Government letter currently on file was not on the correct letterhead.
Another committee member, Eva Kusuma Sundari, who has previously slammed the decision to grant Corby parole, said she did not want to comment further because she had been "bullied" by Corby supporters for her stance.
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Schapelle Corby granted parole
Schapelle Corby's parole application has been approved by Indonesia's justice minister.
Amir Syamsuddin held a press conference in Jakarta where he spoke about the prisoner applications he has been reviewing, including Corby's.
He did not specifically mention Corby's case, but following his comments it was confirmed in a statement that Corby had fulfilled all the terms for parole as required under Indonesian law.
The former Gold Coast beauty student was jailed in Bali in 2005 after authorities found 4.1 kilograms of marijuana in her bodyboard bag at Denpasar airport the year before.
Schapelle Corby's parole decision: Live blog - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Oh lord deliver us from the ensuing media circus. I think i will have to disconnect the TV and internet and go and hide in a forest for a month.
Politicians All Hot and Bothered Over Corby’s Release
Politicians All Hot and Bothered Over Corby’s Release
By Carlos Paath & Markus Junianto Sihaloho on 5:14 pm February 11, 2014.
Category Crime, News, Politics
Tags: drugs, Schapelle Corby
Jakarta. When convicted drug trafficker Schapelle Corby was released on parole from a jail in Bali on Monday, it wasn’t just the horde of reporters from her native Australia who went into a frenzy.
In Jakarta, politicians have been fuming at what they consider a travesty of the justice system, and are threatening to make the humdrum issue of a convict qualifying for early release a matter of national scrutiny.
Aboe Bakar Al Habsy, a member of the House of Representatives from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said on Tuesday that legislators could invoke their interpellation right on the issue — the House’s standard trope for demanding an official explanation from the government on an issue of national importance.
Brushing aside criticism that such a move was overkill, Aboe Bakar said that permitting the release of Corby nine years into a 20-year sentence (reduced to just under 13 following several cuts) was a huge mistake on the government’s part and sent out the wrong message about Indonesia’s campaign to crack down on drug offenses.
“We’ll definitely be talking about Corby’s parole in House Commission III” — which oversees legal affairs — “because the government granted it knowing full well that what she did was a very serious crime,” he said.
“The interpellation issue is one that we still need to discuss further.”
Corby was released from Bali’s Kerobokan Penitentiary on Monday, following her May 2005 conviction for attempting to smuggle 4.2 kilograms of marijuana into the country in October 2004. One of the conditions of her parole is that she will not be allowed to leave Indonesia until August 2017.
Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin had announced a day earlier that she had qualified for early release, following a string of sentence cuts and based on her behavior while at Kerobokan. He stressed the government had not given her preferrential treatment and that she was part of a batch of more than 1,200 inmates nationwide granted parole.
However, House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung said the “international lobbying” in recent years by Australia to get Corby released “was plainly visible and undeniable.”
“We feel that this decision fell far short of the public’s sense of justice,” he said on Tuesday.
“The government has been duplicitous about this.”
Syarifuddin Sudding, a House Commission III member from the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), proposed that a working committee be established to pursue an inquiry into why Corby had been granted early release.
“We’ll discuss it immediately at an internal meeting of the commission. We’ve already talked about it informally,” he said, adding that most legislators had expressed disappointment at the “special treatment” given to Corby.
That purported majority did not include Pieter Zulkiflie, the House Commission III chairman, who said all talk of a working committee or government interpellation was excessive.
“They can have their working committee if they want, but I feel it’s just too much. We have to respect the decision by the [Justice Ministry], and I for one laud their policy,” said Pieter, who, like Amir, is a member of the ruling Democratic Party.
Politicians All Hot and Bothered Over Corby's Release - The Jakarta Globe
Controversy Over Schapelle Corby’s TV Interview Deal
Controversy Over Schapelle Corby’s TV Interview Deal
By Agence France-Presse on 6:54 pm February 11, 2014.
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Australian beauty therapist Schapelle Corby receives a kiss from her mother after she was found guilty of trying to smuggle 4.1kg (9 lb) of marijuana into Bali in 2004, in a Denpasar court on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, in this file picture taken May 27, 2005. (Reuters Photo)
Seminyak, Bali. Freed drug trafficker Schapelle Corby faced criticism Tuesday that she is cashing in on her crime, as reports she has been offered millions for her first post-jail interview were played down by the Australian network trying to sign her up.
Channel Seven was widely reported to have secured the first interview with the 36-year-old for up to AUS$2 million ($1.8 million) following her release on parole Monday from prison on Indonesia’s Bali island.
But reporter Mike Willesee said Tuesday that no deal had been finalized, calling reports of the sums involved “silly” and insisting the money being discussed was “considerably lower.”
His comments came as controversy builds about whether Corby should be allowed to profit from her more than nine years behind bars, with experts divided on whether Australian law would permit it.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously made clear that Corby should not be allowed to profit while on Tuesday Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey tweeted that it would send “all the wrong messages.”
Corby’s case has been the subject of huge fascination back home ever since her 2004 arrest in Bali, a favourite holiday spot for Australians, with marijuana stashed in her surfing gear.
She fought through a huge media scrum with her face covered on her release Monday before being whisked away to a luxury resort and spa in Bali’s upmarket Seminyak district.
The first picture of Corby without her face covered since her release was published Tuesday in an Australian magazine, showing her smiling as she drank a beer with her brother.
But which organization has secured the first sit-down chat with the convicted drug smuggler is unclear with Channel Seven’s Willesee playing down reports it would be his network.
“At this stage we don’t have a paid interview, but I can tell you the money they’re talking about… is just really silly,” the veteran journalist said as he went for a walk outside the luxury resort. ”The money being discussed is considerably lower. It’s way, way lower.”
Willesee said that there were a “few things up in the air” and he did not know when an interview might happen.
It is unclear whether Corby will be able to profit from her criminal notoriety due to the Commonwealth Proceeds of Crime Act.
Her case is seen as complicated as the offense took place in Indonesia and she has not been convicted in Australia, although the act does state that it “can sometimes be used to confiscate the proceeds of crime that break foreign laws.”
Experts were divided on whether Corby and her family would be able to hang on to the money through clever accounting or whether they would end up losing much of it.
“If Corby’s smart… she won’t profit directly from this money,” law lecturer Hugh McDermott at Charles Sturt University told The Australian newspaper.
“The money will go to her family or a separate trust. There’s millions of dollars to be made here and I imagine they’ll structure it in a way to keep it out of the hands of law enforcers.”
Hordes of Australian journalists were still staking out the luxury resort Tuesday, scrutinizing every vehicle going in and out, trying to catch a glimpse of Corby and what her next move might be.
Agence France-Presse
Controversy Over Schapelle Corby's TV Interview Deal - The Jakarta Globe
Campbell Newman could stop Schapelle Corby being paid for interview
Campbell Newman could stop Schapelle Corby being paid for interview
- 2 hours ago February 12, 2014 4:19PM
Kochie lashes out over Corby media deal 0:40
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On Sunrise, Kochie fired up over a two million dollar media deal with his own network and Schapelle Corby saying 'why should we pay a drug dealer' Courtesy: Sunrise, Seven Network
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INDONESIAN authorities have paid Schapelle Corby an unscheduled visit.
Corby’s parole team visited her at the Sentosa Seminyak resort where she is staying, where they spoke to her, sister Mercedes and brother-in-law Wayan Widyartha.
The parole team later said Corby herself had seemed tired during their meeting and they talked mainly to Mercedes and to Widyartha.
The visit comes as critics voice their disapproval of Corby’s accommodation and reported $2 million interview deal with the Seven Network.
The governor of Kerobokan Prison, Farid Junaedi, told the Denpost newspaper that Corby would be “stupid” to do such an interview.
“On parole, she is still considered as a prisoner, though she’s free and outside,” he was quoted as saying.
“I’ve made it clear to the family that if she’s willing to be interviewed, that would be stupid of her.”
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has also warned that his government would seek to prevent Corby from profiting from her situation.
Newman said he would be asking his Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie if payments to Corby could be stopped under Queensland’s proceeds of crime laws.
“I am deeply concerned, in fact I am dismayed, that a convicted drug criminal has benefited it appears from her criminal activity,’’ Mr Newman told reporters in Brisbane today.
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No payday for Corby ... Queensland Premier Campbell Newman. Picture: Glenn Barnes Source: News Limited
Mr Newman said he respected Indonesia’s justice system and its decision to convict Corby.
“I just think we need to recognise there was a trial in Indonesia, she was appropriately convicted, she went to jail and now it appears she’s benefiting from this act and I don’t think it’s very satisfactory.
“So we will look and see whether that Queensland legislation has any application.’’
His comments come after Channel Seven personalities and senior government figures voiced their opposition to the television network’s decision to pay Corby $2 million to tell her story.
Treasurer Joe Hockey and Seven star David Koch are among those who have expressed their distaste over Corby’s possible windfall.
The growing anger comes as details of the convicted drug smuggler’s parole conditions have emerged.
Corby’s parole conditions were laid down and originally signed in August last year.
In that letter, obtained by News Corp Australia, Corby made a series of pledges including to not commit any criminal acts, to not use or distribute any kind of narcotics and to report to the parole authority every month.
Corby also agreed to receive guidance from the parole team and to dress modestly and neatly for the officers.
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On Tuesday, at the parole office, Corby signed another document, pledging to abide by the parole conditions.
It said: “This time, I am serving parole, so I declare that I am able to report and will not commit crime anymore.
If I don’t obey to the provision that is obliged, I am ready if my parole is revoked to serving my sentence at the jail.
That statement is made honestly to be used.”
Corby signed the document, which had a signature stamp at the bottom.
Taking into account ratings for rival Nine’s Schapelle telemovie and the Schapelle: Finally Free documentary, Seven’s interview gamble may well not pay off.
Industry insiders suggests Seven would likely charge $100,000 for a 30-second spot during the interview, double its usual rate, but advertisers may be wary of waning public interest in the convicted drug smuggler.
Nine’s Schapelle telemovie averaged an ordinary 1.022 million viewers across Australia’s five capital cities on Sunday — only half the whopping 1.974 million for Seven’s INXS: Never Tear Us Apart.
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Luxury ... Schapelle Corby is currently staying at the Sentosa Seminyak resort. Source: Supplied
Monday’s Schapelle — Finally Free documentary did even worse with a poor 627,000 viewers nationally, and the repeat of the Schapelle telemovie attracted just 241,000 straight after.Sunrise host David Koch made his feelings clear on Sunrise on Tuesday.
“I reckon we should have nothing to do with her as a network,” he said on air.
“I totally disagree with paying a convicted drug smuggler $2 million. I know Indonesia is corrupt and all that sort of stuff, but she is convicted.”
Later he referred again to the controversial payment in a call-out to viewers to enter the show’s cash giveaway competition.
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Interview controversy ... Sunrise host David Koch says he disagrees with paying a convicted drug smuggler $2 million. Source: News Limited
“How would you like to win some Mega Cool cash without spending time in an overseas jail?,” he said during the segment.Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey congratulated Koch for his stance on Corby’s paid interview.
“It sends all the wrong messages on drugs for a convicted trafficker to be paid for her story,” Mr Hockey said on Twitter.
And fellow Seven personalities supported Koch’s stance, with radio host and Sunrise regular Jason Morrison tweeting “Good on @kochie_online 7 network should not be paying #SchapelleCorby Well done for speaking up.”
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No deal ... Mercedes Corby has released a statement denying the family had been paid $2 million for the interview. Picture: Bradley Hunter Source: News Limited
Mercedes Corby released a statement denying the family had been paid $2 million for the interview.
“If Schapelle feels that she wants to tell story to the Australian public, she will do it with someone she trusts. It was never a matter of going with the highest bidder,” Mercedes said.
“This choice was made easier with Channel Nine broadcasting a film based on a book Sins of the Father which is full of false allegations and which we are taking defamation action against.”
Seven sports reporter Jim Wilson also weighed in on Twitter, criticising Corby’s cloak and dagger exit from jail writing “The whole scarf over the head was ridiculous yesterday, walk out give a statement and then go and do your sit down tell all, done!”
He later defended the network when his Twitter followers pointed out the extreme secrecy was to protect his own employer’s exclusive, describing the bidding war as “the way of the world”.
“Not talking right and wrong all I’m saying is take your scarf off & give a short statement then do the tell all, end of story,” he replied to one critic.
It is believed the Seven deal was stitched up in such secrecy, even the network’s own reporters on the ground in Bali were in the dark it, with journalist Robert Ovadia reportedly as taken aback as the rest of the media pack when word filtered through.
Seven management would only offer a “polite decline on that one” when asked to comment on Koch’s outburst.
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Statement ... Indonesia’s anti-drugs movement, Granat, says it “deplores” the fact that Schapelle Corby has been released on parole. Picture: Bradley Hunter Source: News Limited
In Indonesia, criticism continues about Corby’s release and news that she will make a small fortune from the tell-all media interview.
And her parole officers have warned that any media interview conducted without their permission would be a disciplinary matter. They say that she should have asked them first and co-ordinated the interview with them.
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The parole authority called Corby’s brother-in-law Wayan Widyartha on Monday night to discuss this and to find out where Corby was staying, after hearing from the media that she was holed up in a luxury Seminyak villa with a TV crew.
Indonesia’s anti-drugs movement, Granat, says it “deplores” the fact that Corby has been released on parole and that it is contrary to the country’s stated opposition to drugs.
Granat have long campaigned against Corby, at her original trial and later when the Indonesian President granted her a five-year clemency.
One former politician, in a Tweet, described Corby as “Queen Corby and questioned what happened behind the scenes in order for her to be given such “generosity”.
The former head of Indonesia’s Democratic Party, Anas Urbaningrum, who has now been arrested on corruption charges, tweeted: “Queen Corby is ready to get generosity. What happen behind this thing? “Is the queen Corby like “a bid that is almost impossible to be rejected.”
Last week a group of parliamentarians signed a petition to the President, arguing against Corby’s parole, pointing out that the Indonesian Government has long had a policy of drug eradication.
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In Bali ... TV veteran Mike Willesee is preparing to interview Schapelle Corby Source: AP
Letting drug traffickers out of jail early was contrary to this policy, the petition said.
Henry Yosodiningrat, from the Indonesian anti-drugs movement Granat, was outraged that Corby was staying in a luxury villa — and not the home on her parole papers — and reportedly doing a paid media interview.
“She has violated the rule as she is not staying at the house where she should live. I demand the government to revoke her parole,” Mr Yosodiningrat said.
“What Corby has done has already hurt Indonesian people. After release, a drug smuggler lives in a luxury villa and makes money from exclusive interview with a television station. It is obviously hurting Indonesian people.”
“I strongly demand the government to revoke her parole,” he said.
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Dramatisation ... Krew Boylan as Schapelle Corby in Schapelle. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
Media buyer Steve Allen estimates Seven would be charging twice the normal rate for its special edition of Sunday Night with a Schapelle Corby interview — ie at least $100,000 for an advertising spot — and there would be plenty of companies willing to pay it.
“There would only be a very limited number of companies that would baulk at advertising (during Schapelle interview),” Mr Allen says.
“If this (advertising in a show that involved convicted criminals) was an issue no-one would have advertised in Underbelly.
“We give a lot of credence to Mike Willesee. If anyone is going to get close to the truth it will be him.
“We think this will produce big ratings. If you were an advertiser trying to steal a march on your competitors at twice the normal price you’d buy it.
“They (potential advertisers) will be looking at ratings.”
Media analyst Nathan Cook also said Seven was unlikely to face an advertiser backlash, despite public sentiment turning against the Corbys.
“I am sure there would be clients with some sensitivity to going (advertising) into the show but at the end of the day, even if Seven had to go ad-free, I am sure they would have paid the money,” he said.
“They (Seven) are not paying the money (for the interview) to get immediate advertising revenue. It is more about kudos, getting commercial share and being able to cross-promote their shows for the rest of the week.”
Campbell Newman could stop Schapelle Corby being paid for interview | News.com.au
