Zilos

Schapelle Corby's cancer-stricken father will fly to Bali in the next 48 hours after receiving fresh family reports that his daughter is suicidal.

Michael Corby is clinging to the hope his unannounced arrival in Indonesia might give his daughter the vital lift she needs to cope with prison life until May when her court verdict is expected.

In his first full interview, he told The Sun-Herald from his home on the Gold Coast: "My daughter's health is deteriorating and the rest of the family out there need a break. They are struggling badly."

Mr Corby, who is battling prostate cancer, plans to raise his daughter's spirits by handing her a special photograph from her childhood days.

The picture shows Corby excited at meeting Father Christmas for the first time with her two young cousins. "I found it while I was packing and the moment she sees it, I know it's going to light up her face. She has such a beautiful smile, and this will bring it back."

Mr Corby, a retired coalminer, remains adamant his 27-year-old daughter is the innocent victim of a domestic drug trafficking ring.

In October last year, he kissed her goodbye as she left for a flight bound for Bali. The journey was supposed to lead to a tropical vacation with friends and family. But six months on, her life hangs in the balance after 4.1 kilograms of marijuana was found by Denpasar airport officials stashed inside her bodyboard bag. If she is found guilty, prosecutors are expected to push for the death penalty.

Breaking his six-month silence, Mr Corby, 55, relived the moment his world was turned upside down.

He said: "I was asleep at home when my ex-wife phoned and told me Schapelle had been arrested in Bali, that they'd found this bag of marijuana in her bag. My medication was knocking me around a bit back then. Anyway, I must have dozed off again because when I awoke, my first thought was, what a strange bloody dream.

"A short time later the phone rang. It was a television journalist. That's when it hit me it was true."

He said he was distressed when he later saw news footage of his daughter begging for her freedom so she could return home and see her dying father.

"I could have five days, six weeks, two years left, who knows. But the sad thing is, Schapelle has already lost her gran in the time she's been stuck in jail. She missed the funeral, which was very hard on her because there was no chance to say goodbye."

Mr Corby insisted his daughter had never been involved with recreational drugs.

"She hates drugs of any sort."

He told how his daughter, as a teenager, had dragged him back to reality after he became semi-dependent on prescription pills.

Mr Corby recalled the day when everything came to a head. "Schapelle was playing with her mates. I was on the couch as usual when suddenly she burst in and stared straight at me. She yelled, 'You're not my dad any more . . . just look at you . . . these drugs have turned you into a completely different person.' She grabbed the pills and raced to the toilet. Before I could stop her she had managed to flush the whole lot away.

"I was so mad at the time but weeks, months later I realised what these things had been doing to me."

Struggling to contain his tears, he said: "The young girl who did that for me that day is the same girl now locked up over there."

Mr Corby also revealed his daughter should have been on a different plane but that plans had been changed at the last minute.

"If she had been on an earlier flight we wouldn't be here now. You just have to hope these things balance themselves out."




THE Federal Government will "go into overdrive" to stop accused Gold Coast drug smuggler Schapelle Corby being executed should an Indonesian court find her guilty and impose the death penalty.

Justice Minister Chris Ellison yesterday said everything possible would be done to keep Corby alive, including personal representations by Prime Minister John Howard.

"I am not going to pre-empt any outcomes, but I can tell you what the Government's policy is . . . relating to the death penalty and that is we go into overdrive in making representations to avoid that being carried out," he told the Ten Network.

"Recently the Prime Minister John Howard made personal representations to Singapore in relation to the death sentence of an Australian national in that country."

Corby, 27, is on trial for allegedly importing 4.1kg of marijuana into Indonesia in an unlocked bodyboard bag last October.

She faces the death penalty or life in jail if found guilty.

Mr Ellison said negotiations with Indonesia were under way to establish a transfer of prisoner agreement, which would allow Corby – if convicted – to serve her sentence in Australia.

"I must say that the Indonesian authorities have been very co-operative in relation to this matter," he said.

Mr Ellison also rejected the suggestion a guilty verdict would harm relations between the two countries.

"In Schapelle Corby's case, she has been represented, she has had the opportunity to bring in evidence (and) the court adjourned the hearing to enable fresh evidence to be brought before it," he said.

"I think the Indonesian authorities have co-operated with our requests and I don't think a finding of guilt will affect our relationship with Indonesia."

The comments came as Indonesian President Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife arrived in Australia last night for a four-day visit to Canberra and Sydney.

Mr Ellison said the Australian Federal Police, in co-operation with the Queensland Police Service, were continuing to investigate allegations aired at Corby's Bali trial last week.

John Ford, a Victorian prisoner, told the court Corby was the victim of a domestic drug trafficking run.

He claimed the marijuana found in Corby's body board bag was owned by Melbourne man Ronnie Vigenser.

But in a paid interview with the Nine Network, Mr Vigenser denied it was his marijuana.

Mr Ellison said the public airing of aspects of the case outside court was unhelpful.

"I think it is best left to the Australian Federal Police to carry out this investigation rather than some public parade of what people say and who says what," he said.

"Really, it is a matter for the Australian Federal Police, they are the authority to deal with this."

Prosecutors will this week submit what they believe is an appropriate sentence for Corby.

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