May 30, 2010

Government urged to 'bring Schapelle home' from Indonesia

Schapelle Corby

Schapelle Corby's family wants her to be
transferred to Australia.

An Australian man who has arrived home after five months in a Bali jail for drug offences has called on the Government to bring Schapelle Corby home.

Corby is serving a 20-year jail term after she was caught at Bali's airport in October 2004 with 4.1 kilograms of marijuana in her boogie board bag. She was convicted the following May.

Robert McJannett, a prominent trade unionist and former political candidate, urged the Federal Government to intervene in the Corby case when he arrived in Perth on Friday night.

"I call on the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in this election year to bring Schapelle home, before it's too late," he said.

Mr McJannett also hit out at at Indonesian authorities.

"For the past five months, I have witnessed blackmail, bribery and corruption on an unprecedented scale," he said.

"It is clearly not possible to receive a fair trial in the Bali justice system."

Earlier this year Corby applied for presidential clemency, saying she was suffering from depression that could endanger her life.

Clemency decisions in Indonesian can take months.

Last year Corby's family said she had regressed to a child-like state in Bali's Kerobokan prison.

Corby's family has asked the Federal Government to lobby Indonesian authorities to allow her to be transferred to Australia.

Mr McJannett was arrested at Bali's airport on December 28, 2009 with 1.7 grams of marijuana in his luggage.

The 48-year-old was released from jail on Friday after serving five months.