Schapelle Corby's tell-all book hasn't stopped the swirling rumours and accusations, writes Kathryn Bonella.

You have to be gutsy to write a no-holds-barred book about jail life while you're still stuck inside and looking down the dark barrel of another 18 years.

Schapelle Corby is gutsy. I spent a year visiting Corby to help her write the book, My Story. She was keen to tell all. She was brutally honest. She felt that she had nothing to lose; that they couldn't take away privileges she didn't have. She didn't even have a powerpoint in her cell.

Since the book was released in November, little has changed. Corby gave the Kerobokan prison boss a copy and he reportedly said there was nothing in it that displeased him. But outside the dirty white walls, there have been reports of a reaction inside jail.

The latest story is that Schapelle is being moved to a prison in Java as punishment for her graphic depiction of prison life. The truth is that she is not being transferred - at least for now - and any threat of a move has nothing to do with her book. For the past six months, all prisoners have been under the shadow of transfer because of overcrowding at Kerobokan. Schapelle is in the middle of an appeal, however, and an imminent move for her is unlikely.

Another, more damaging story was an interview broadcast on the 7.30 Report last month with one-time "case co-ordinator" Vasu Rasiah, claiming that Mercedes Corby had not wanted the dope in her sister's bag to be DNA-tested.

"We even got a couple of samples [of marijuana] from the Bali police for this testing and then when we asked Mercedes to give an answer, she delayed more than a week," he told the ABC program.

The truth is different. Rasiah must have forgotten that in a pile of papers he returned to Mercedes after the family sacked him was a letter on his letterhead addressed to a leading Australian forensic scientist, stating: "The Bali police do not intend to do any testing on the marijuana . we have obtained a sample from the police, however not legally."

Mercedes was horrified: "I thought this was insanity. We couldn't even use the test results in court. Of course we wanted it tested - but legally."

Rasiah also failed to mention that he had asked Mercedes for $5000 to carry out the testing. Mercedes says she eventually agreed to give him the cash, but the next day the plan was off.

"He didn't give the money back. He was threatening us that if we kept pushing for it, he'd speak out and hurt Schapelle's credibility. He has nothing on her because she is innocent and I have proof of his threats."

The 7.30 Report admitted that Rasiah was angry about an "attack" on him in Schapelle's book, but it did not contact Mercedes or any member of the Corby family for comment.

These latest stories were exactly the reason Schapelle felt she had to write the book in the first place.

Kathryn Bonella co-wrote Schapelle Corby's My Story (Pan Macmillan, $35).

Comments: I believe that prisoners, like everyone else, should have the right to tell their stories, at a time of their choosing, but I think they must look at the broader implications in doing so while still detained in a foreign prison.

Generally, advocates who deal in International Prisoner advocacy on a daily basis, discourage prisoners from writing biographies whilst detained in volatile environments because such actions can negatively impact on the prisoner and their fellow detainees, in many cases causing a deterioration of priveleges and quality of life, and put future appeals for clemency and remissions in jeopardy.

Kay Danes
International Human Rights Advocate
Foreign Prisoner Support Service
www.foreignprisoners.com