Mike B) ******* Sujeet Bhatt posted this article:
(CNSNews.com) - In a verdict that could affect recently improved relations between Australia and Indonesia, a court in Bali Friday sentenced an Australian woman to 20 years in jail for smuggling marijuana into the country.
Although Prime Minister John Howard has urged Australians to accept the verdict, the case has generated enormous interest in the country, where polls have consistently found a large majority of people believe Schapelle Corby's claims that she is innocent.
A panel of judges found the 27-year-old student beautician guilty of carrying just over four kilograms of marijuana in her baggage when she arrived on the resort island last October.
********************************************** Meanwhile in Oz:
Viewers stunned at verdict By Kara Lawrence and Adam Bennett May 28, 2005 From:
CRAMMED into pubs and clubs and gathered around television sets in shops, Australians were yesterday transfixed as Schapelle Corby learnt her fate. At the MLC centre in Sydney, people seemed stunned as they digested the 20-year sentence.
"I really thought she was going to come home today," Rachel Turner, 28, said.
"There just didn't seem to be enough evidence to prove her guilty. It doesn't make sense the Bali bombers who killed hundreds of people get nothing, but she gets 20 years."
Eryn Bousfield, 25, said she would protest against the sentence by never holidaying in Bali.
"I said if she's found guilty I would never travel to Indonesia as a protest against what's happened to her," she said.
Laura Draper, 18, admired the way Corby handled the pressure of the dramatic sentencing.
"I feel for her. I think it's really awful," the Wollongong student said. "It's just horrible."
Sam McCue, 21, showed her support for Corby by wearing a colourful wristband emblazoned with the words "Peace, Courage and Love".
"It is great Australians are showing their support," the Cronulla woman said. "Even such a little thing would mean a lot to her."
At the Tugun Surf Club on the Gold Coast, more than 100 Corby supporters were inconsolable after watching the verdict live.
Friend Natalie Wolfe stood and wept while Guy Pilgrim looked stunned.
Corby's second cousin, Lyn Lack, screamed: "We want to bring her home - we don't want to leave her over there."
Michael Corby, Corby's older brother, was also stunned by the judgment. "I thought I was ready to hear a verdict like this but when it happened I was only half ready," he said from the Tugun Tavern.
"Twenty years is a long time. That's most of her life."
Corby's ex-boyfriend Shannon McLure, who watched the sentence on a tiny hand-held television at a Brisbane building site, was shocked.
"I just don't know what she's going to do," the 27-year-old said.
"I think it'd break anyone - 20 years in jail when you're innocent."
Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, whose case has been likened to the Corby saga, said she was praying for the beauty student.
"My heart goes out to Schapelle Corby and her family," she said.
"I know what it feels like and how hard it is to keep your courage up under the circumstances."
The outpouring of anger saw the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra bombarded with hate phone calls from "very emotional people" immediately after the guilty verdict.
Before the verdict, federal police upgraded security at Indonesian missions, with a dozen officers guarding the embassy in Canberra.
But not everyone was outraged by the sentence. "I think it's excellent she didn't get the death penalty," Amir Yassa, 26, of Quakers Hill said.
"She's got a lot of evidence against her and I don't think she brought up any hard evidence to get her off." http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15429974-28793,00.html
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