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Schapelle Corby May Lose Good Time for Skipping Mass

The madness continues in Indonesia. Schapelle Corby, an Australian serving 20 years for having 4 kilos of pot in her boogie board (which she denied knowing was there) skipped Christmas mass at Kerobokan prison because there were so many reporters. She had been recommended for a reduction of 1.5 months. Now she may not get it. The prison warden says:

This will be a special point against her [getting future sentence cuts] and I will report it to the Australian Consulate,” he said. “She has failed to meet all the requirements for a remission.” He also said he would report her to the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, which oversees the Directorate General of Corrections.

“She is a naughty child and unappreciative of Kerobokan Penitentiary,” he said. (my emphasis.)

[More....]

Schapelle is not a "naughty child." She is 34 years old. If she acts like a child, it's because her mental health has deteriorated during her 5 years at Kerobokan. And who in their right mind (which Schapelle no longer is) would be appreciative of that hellhole of a prison? He acts like it's some luxury hotel.

Human rights activists estimate that life expectancy in the badly overcrowded jail compound would be between 10 and 15 years. The toilets in the jail's squalid cells sit directly beside the benches where food is prepared. The jail was built in 1976 for 366 prisoners, but it holds 525. Corby shares her 5m-wide cell with seven other women. She is forced to wash with only a small bucket and ladle. The untreated water is fetched from a dilapidated well in the prison compound. Corby's family says the jail food is inedible. It comes around on a big cart - a bucket of rice which her family says regularly contains stones, dirt and sticks, and a pot of some kind of stew. The pot is encrusted with drying and rotting food." - Herald Sun

"Vertical metal bars interrupt views of shiny silver razor wire. Any tempting smell of local cuisine is replaced by the stench of sewage. The cool, clear ocean is far removed from these scummy washbuckets. This is life in Bali's notorious Kerobokan Prison, a nightmare destination not featured in any travel brochure. " - couriermail.co.au

"No TV, no internet, no sport - nothing. Just opressive torturous conditions, in a highly dangerous environment, in which AIDS is rife, and daily survival is a serious struggle. Time in these conditions bears no resemblance to time in a western prison. It is a genuine hell."

Those familiar with the Kerobokan paint a grim picture of the cramped and dirty cells, where poor sanitation and a lack of air conditioning against the tropical climate create a breeding ground for disease. Kerobokan's prisoners are locked up for 20 hours a day in dark rooms which measure a mere three square metres. Larger 30-metre cells are usually crammed with up to 20 prisoners, according to prison doctor, Anak Agung Gede Hartawan." "Common diseases include respiratory ailments and skin conditions, while many prisoners complain of headaches. Hartawan said 11 prisoners are confirmed carriers of HIV/AIDS but 30 are estimated to have the virus" - news24.com

A former inmate wrote a book on the Kerobokhan after her release. She calls it "hell on earth".

Shapelle, along with assistance of psychotropic medication, has lasted in this godforsaken prison for 6 years, along with her fellow inmates who include murderers, rapists, child sex offenders, theives and terrorists.

The Islamic Terrorists got lesser sentences than Scapelle and they received sentence cuts in 2005. Did they go to mass?

Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who is serving a 30-month jail term for his role in instigating the Bali bombings, will have his sentence cut as prisoners across Indonesia are granted leniency to mark independence day, the local media has reported. Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin said Bashir and some of the 24 other people jailed for their roles the 2002 Bali attacks would receive sentence remissions in conjunction with Wednesday's independence day celebrations, according to the Jakarta Post.

A Jakarta court in March sentenced Bashir to 30 months in jail for taking part in a conspiracy that led to the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians.

...The office of the Justice Ministry in Bali has proposed remissions for 19 of 24 Bali bombers in the Kerobokan prison on the resort island, Antara quoted ministry official Mayun Mataram as saying.

By 2006, 14 terrorists had been released from prison early.

Bali: 30 months for a terrorist, 20 years for pot possession.

Free Schapelle, Boycott Bali.

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  • Display: Sort:
    I have no problem boycotting Bali (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 10:10:48 AM EST
    I would never know how horrible their prisons are, or how insane their drug laws if it were not for you.  It isn't something that anyone talks about when they discuss must have vacations.

    There are many many wonderful places to still visit and enjoy leaving Bali off the list.

    Also boycotting the U.S ? (2.00 / 0) (#2)
    by Andreas on Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 01:43:32 PM EST
    .

    That's not an option ... (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by cymro on Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 03:58:22 PM EST
    ... if you live here. Where do you live? And how do you "boycott the US"?

    Parent
    he lives in Europe (5.00 / 0) (#8)
    by Jeralyn on Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 05:16:33 PM EST
    is associated with the World Wide Socialist Movement and has been commenting on TalkLeft (mostly linking to their articles) for many years.

    Parent
    "And how do you 'boycott the US'?" (none / 0) (#10)
    by Andreas on Wed Dec 28, 2011 at 02:27:42 AM EST
    Talkleft could ask readers living outside the U.S. to boycott the U.S. It is as easy as asking people to boycott Bali.

    But to avoid a misunderstanding: I do not call for such a boycott because it would not help to unite the working class against imperialism.

    Parent

    Well indeed, there is that, Andreas (none / 0) (#3)
    by Zorba on Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 02:02:29 PM EST
    I'm not saying that our prisons are as bad as those in Indonesia, but many of them are pretty d@mned bad.

    Parent
    U.S. is *far* worse than Bali has ever been (none / 0) (#4)
    by Andreas on Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 03:00:58 PM EST
    The U.S. has committed the worst crimes of all states during the last decades. It is responsible for wars of aggression, mass murder, mass torture, assassinations and other crimes.

    If a country is worth a boycott than it is the U.S. So, why does Talkleft call for a Boycott of Bali and ignores the far worse regime in the U.S.?

    Parent

    Maybe because (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by Zorba on Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 03:18:11 PM EST
    we live here, and cannot boycott the USA without moving out of the country.  Which most of us, very frankly and realistically, cannot do.  But many of us recognize that this country has committed terrible crimes against other countries, as well as against our own citizens.  And many of us try to do what we can to change things.  Talk Left has not ignored the awful things that this country has done- the front page writers and the commenters have all written about such things, in case you haven't been paying attention.  If you don't think that Jeralyn and BTD and all the commenters here have been doing enough, that's your prerogative.  Perhaps you would do a better job if you started your own blog.  (And, by the way, what have you, personally, done to address these problems?  Do you vote?  Do you contact your representatives?  Do you support causes close to your heart?  Do you get out there and protest?  I have done all these things.  What have you done?)    

    Parent
    hardley ignored (5.00 / 0) (#7)
    by Jeralyn on Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 05:14:53 PM EST
    we write about the US abuses every day.

    Parent
    Indeed (none / 0) (#9)
    by Zorba on Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 05:24:42 PM EST
    Yes, you do, Jeralyn.

    Parent