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HUMAN RIGHTS FOR EACH PERSON REGARDLESS OF AGE, RACE, RELIGION OR POLITICS
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Robert Foley Campaign
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Robert Foley
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Birthday : | 7-10-1958 |
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Hometown : | Sydney Australia |
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Family : | One Brother, a sister and wife and three children. |
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Case History: |
Robert Foley is an Australian citizen who was arrested 09 June 1997 in Thailand and detained in the notorious
Bangkwang Prison for 9 ½ years.
Robert was acquitted by a Thai court in 2002 on charges of heroin possession.
Incredibly an appeal by the prosecution resulted in a life sentence being passed.
After many years of appeals Robert was again acquitted in March, 2006.
Robert was extradited to Italy in October 2006. Robert was previously convicted in absentia by an Italian court
and sentenced 13 years for conspiring to import a narcotic. He had no Italian legal representation whatsoever,
did not appear before an Italian court to defend the charges against him, and has at no time received any Australian
government assistance other than Consular support. His Thai wife and children face yet another long and uncertain appeals
process.
Robert Foley has served over a decade behind bars.. and faces a further decade in an Italian prison.
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Prison: |
Rebibbia Prison
Via Raffaele Maiett 70
00156 Roma, Italia
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Embassy : |
Australian Embassy
Via Antonio Bosio, 5
00161 - ROME
Tel: 06 8527 21 F
acsimile: 06 8527 2300
Consular Emergency Centre, Canberra
(Toll free from Italy 24hr): 800877790
To contact us from outside Italy:
Telephone: + 39 06 8527 21
Facsimile: + 39 06 8527 2300 (Embassy)
Facsimile: + 39 06 8527 2400 (DIMA - Visas and Citizenship Section)
E-mail addressesAssistance to Australians:
consular-rome@dfat.gov.au
DIMA - Visas and Citizenship:
dima-rome@dfat.gov.au
General information:
info-rome@dfat.gov.au
http://www.italy.embassy.gov.au/rome/aboutus.html
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Personal Appeal from Robert: |
Robert writes: 'I am interested in all sports in particular, the boxing.
I love to read books, magazines, poetry and books on self improvement/motivation.
I would like to improve myself so that I can lead a productive life no matter where I am.
Of course, my greatest desire is to return to my family.
Life in Bangkwang Prison Thailand was difficult but in Italy, I am trying as hard as I can to hold on to my sanity.
I cannot even begin to fathom how much longer this journey will be for me.
Yes I understand that I have another decade + to serve here but how can I come to terms with that reality?
I can only hope that one day I will have my life and my freedom restored so that I can see my family again.
I'd be grateful if people would consider writing to me. It really would help me get through this madness. '
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Contact Robert
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When writing to Robert, please let him know you got his contact details via our Website.
Often it can be quite daunting at first when a stranger writes.
Write a letter of support to:
Robert Foley [Australian]
Rebibbia Prison
Via Raffaele Maiett 70
00156 Roma, Italia
Robert is able to write letters as he has someone providing stamps/paper/pens.
He is visited by a Volunteer American Social Worker.
He can receive money via International Money Orders in Euros, addressed to Robert Keith Foley.
He is very short of cash and has to buy all toiletries, stationery, and supplementary food.
Half the food provided he cannot eat.
Robert missed his son's 10th birthday last year [2006] and his daughter's 9th.
He has lost a great deal of weight and is trying to stay strong in the hope that he can return to Australia and piece
together a new life with his family.
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NEWS UPDATES & INFORMATION
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Please contact us if you can provide any of the following;
- Legal support
- Financial aid to assist with legal support and related fees
- Airfares for Robert's eventual return and/or for his family to visit him
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Please write letters to your Federal Member of Parliament to bring Robert Foley's case to their immediate attention
The Italian Government is facing a very serious dilemma with overcrowding of Italian prisons. According to official figures there are over 56,000 prisoners detained in facilities that cater for around 40,000 prisoners. Italian prisons are reportedly notorious for violence and numerous xenophobic acts. It has been reported that racial tensions have led to prisoners setting fire to other prisoners. Foreign Prisoners face further difficulties with language barriers, cultural differences and less access to Australian Consular Officials often due to the isolation of prisons. Family members too have great difficulty sending financial support to Australians detained in Italy. Without financial support, Robert Foley will deteriorate both physically and emotionally. This is a very real concern and the facts can be substantiated through other cases that FPSS supports, of Australians detained in Italy.
In accordance with article 10 of the International Covenant of Civil and political Rights [ICCPR], the penitentiary system should have the essential aim of reforming prisoners and social rehabilitation. FPSS strongly argue that Robert Foley will not find any rehabilitative or humanitarian type care in an Italian prison.
FPSS urge the Australian Government to consider the alternative, and instead allow Robert Foley to participate in a Prisoner Transfer Agreement which would recognize humanitarian, rehabilitative and social objectives.
Repatriating Robert Foley has a number of benefits for Australia.
It would relieve the financial hardship and emotional burden on his family and supporters;
It would facilitate the prospects of his rehabilitation and reintegration into Australian Society;
It would reduce the burden on Australian consular officials in Italy and limited financial resources;
Australian taxpayers would no longer have to pay the ongoing costs of his incarceration in a foreign country.
From an international perspective there are also good reasons for participating in the international prisoner transfers.
The international transfer of prisoners is forming an increasingly important part of international co-operation in the administration
of criminal justice.
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60 Min TV Transcript: Bangkok Hilton
March 21, 2004
Reporter: Tara Brown
Producer: Stephen Taylor
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INTRODUCTION — TARA BROWN: You'd have to be very desperate or very stupid to do drugs in Thailand. After all, the warnings couldn't be any clearer, the penalties any tougher. But still Australians keep getting caught. Still they're shocked when they find themselves in some of the world's most appalling, most brutal jails like the notorious Bangkok Hilton. In a way, though, they're the lucky ones. Thailand's a place where when they say zero tolerance, they mean it, where more than 2000 drug traffickers were killed on the streets last year.
STORY — TARA BROWN: Step behind the bars of the infamous Bangkok Hilton and it's the number of women that's overwhelming, the number who've taken the gamble. Nearly 6000 in this one small jail. Most have thrown their lives away for drugs. With the average sentence 25 years or more, many will die in this place.
It's not a good life?
PACHARAPORN SAROBHAS: It's not good because it's just a long time because of the drugs. It's a very very serious crime in Thailand.
Click Here for Full Transcript
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FREEDOM IS A RIGHT OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS IN A WORLD WHERE LIFE IS VALUED AND PEACE MAY FINALLY BE A POSSABILITY
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Just in case you forgot - read the Universal declaration of Human Rights
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