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Schapelle
Action Support
Group An
International Network of Support for an Australian wrongfully detained in Bali. P.O. Box 1202,
Waverley Gardens VIC 3170 Australia Email: nwyndom@optusnet.com.au January 2008 Newsletter: Welcome. Firstly, let me wish all of you throughout the world
a very Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year. Secondly, my apologies for the lateness of this
month's Newsletter which is due to a number of items waiting on further
developments. To all the new members on our mailing list we wish
you a very warm welcome. Special thanks to Kay Danes who administers the
Official Schapelle Website, for continuing to send these contacts through to
us. There have been a few changes to the SASG structure
and I’m pleased to say that it hasn’t impeded our progress in making sure
Schapelle’s plight remains the focus to our agenda. Thank you again for everyone’s support and
encouragement as we continue to network all over the world to support Schapelle
and her family! Noel Wyndom SASG Our Mission Schapelle Action Support
Group (SASG) was established to: ·
Provide moral and
practical support for Schapelle and her family. ·
Raise awareness of the
facts surrounding her wrongful imprisonment. ·
Dispel myths, rumours
and lies that have been used against Schapelle and her family. ·
Lobby our Government to
do more to bring Schapelle safely home as soon as possible. ·
Keep Schapelle's welfare
in people's thoughts and prayers. ·
Give information about
what people can do to support her. ·
To coordinate and co-operate
with other support groups where possible. ·
To explore other avenues
by which we can assist Schapelle and her family. ·
To seek out people of
like mind. ·
To act as conduit for
the Schapelle Corby Trust Account, an audited account established by the family.
·
To seek out and work
with organisations involved with civil and human rights as appropriate. ·
To support the
Government in its diplomatic efforts and to work in a peaceful, non
confrontational way. Contact SASG Noel
Wyndom [Administrator] P.O. Box 1202,
Waverley Gardens VIC 3170 Australia Email: nwyndom@optusnet.com.au New banking details for contributions: For those making Australian dollar
contributions to the Schapelle Corby Trust Account please note that all cheques
and money orders are payable to: Schapelle Corby
Trust Account NEW MAILING ADDRESS c/- Schapelle Action Support Group P.O. Box 1202 Waverley Gardens
VIC
3170 Australia For foreign
currency contributions,
we are in the process of making arrangements through Paypal and hope to have
that up and running very soon. Until then, please refrain from sending as bank
fees and exchange rates defeat the purpose. Please provide a self-addressed,
stamped envelope if you wish to receive a return receipt. ________________________________________________________________________ New Members We are still receiving a steady flow of new members
through the FreeSchapelle.net website. Many are from overseas and have
expressed a desire to help. We thank you so much for your interest and kind
thoughts and hope to help you to help Schapelle. ________________________________________________________________________ New Supporter Forums Unfortunately the old Freeschapelle.net Forum was experiencing
constant server problems and was becoming quite impossible to access. Therefore
a new Forum has been established to replace that forum and whilst the name has
been retained, the server has changed to a “.com.au” address. http://www.freeschapelle.com.au/forum The new Forum is attracting quite a lot of interest
and is livelier than ever, faster too. It also reduces the need to constantly
update the Official site [www.freeschapelle.net] Thanks and well done to long time supporter, Neville
Wright, for getting the new forum up and running! Neville has also registered
the www.freeschapelle.com.au site so that Schapelle can have a
presence in the Australian domain name registrations. Care2: There is
growing concern around the world about human rights issues and this Care2 site
provides us with a means to support and grow in that area. On the new Forum you will find references to Care2. http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/Schapelle_Corby The
Viral aspect of using Care2 Hi All, Have a look at this page of Care2. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/ Another page shows one petitioner got over
114,000 signatures. One of the members
of our forum has 74,000 members in her group. Currently with the friends linked
to me I have over 84,000 downline friends. There are over 8 million members of
Care2 and we can petition everyone over time. They have a bulk email facility
that takes HTML and images. The more of our members that join the faster we
will grow... exponentially. If we worked at it we could have thousands of
members in that group and each could be exposed to our FS forum. Think of the
effect like dropping a stone into a pool. The ripples gradually work out to the
outer edge and everyone can be affected. GOVERNMENT UPDATES Lyn Allison, Leader of the Australian Democrats visits
Schapelle & Bali Nine: The Australian Democrats have been active in support of Schapelle
throughout her ordeal. When Schapelle's book came out in late 2006 she
complained about her rotting teeth. Senator Allison, at my request, posted two
questions on notice in the Senate regarding the matter. It took three months
and I have no idea just how much effect our letters helped but Schapelle was
finally permitted to see a dentist. To the hyenas in the media-No she didn't bribe the
guards for a day on the town, she was going to the dentist and the police van
was followed by another vehicle containing Australian Consular Officials. Senator Allison travelled to Bali in December 2007, not for the main
event (Conference on Climate Change) but for a follow up conference on
renewable energy. While she was there she visited Kerobokan Prison and here is
what she said - It was a moving and disturbing visit to
the Jail. These are kids that are not very different from sons and
daughters of any one of my friends - not the hardened criminals you
would expect to be on death row or facing long sentences. Schapelle looks
well enough but it's obviously very difficult for her emotionally and
physically. We thank Lyn for her compassion and for taking the time to make that
visit. I'm sure it would have been of considerable comfort to all those
unfortunate people.
Sometimes MPs who are not
in Government can accomplish things that might be too sensitive for those in
Government. I think this highlights some of the more positive workings of our
system. ________________________________________________________________________ How
can YOU help Schapelle? You can help by writing
letters. Letters of support for Schapelle can be sent to: Ms Schapelle Corby C/-LPM Kerobokan Jl. Tangkuban Perahu Kerobokan Denpasar 80117 Bali, Indonesia Write letters to Members of Parliament: http://www.aph.gov.au/whoswho/index.htm This will guide you to Party leaders, relevant Ministers and Shadow
Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and Shadow Secretaries and Minor Party
Senators. Don't forget your Local Member. Closing editorial: One of our main goals has been ‘To coordinate and
co-operate with other support groups where possible.’ I truly believe we
are making great progress in that area. The spirit of cooperation and teamwork
between SASG, Foreign Prisoner Support Service and Members of Freeschapelle.net
and Forum is truly inspiring. Most recent evidence of this teamwork was last
year [December] with the participation in the youth concert, HOMEBAKE, at the
Domain in Sydney. The organisers contacted the Foreign Prisoner
Support Service and provided them a booth for the event. FPSS invited the
Australians Against Capital Punishment and SASG to join them at the booth. A
combined flyer was produced for the event. Over 1000 were distributed. Murray
Kidd from Qld. represented SASG and made a tremendous and valuable
contribution. Thanks again Murray. Much of the same group offered suggestions and
advice on our 'Season's Greeting’ Card which I had printed and sent to every
sitting Member of Parliament and some prominent people besides. With such
developments as Care2 and this kind of TEAMWORK and cooperation, we can feel a
lot of positive energy building. We are approaching Australia Day. The newly elected
MPs are settling in. Everyone is back from Christmas break. The backlog of mail
is just about caught up with and in a very few weeks the 42nd Parliament will
sit for the first time with a newly elected Government. Please, people, write
to them. Let them know of your concern for justice for this innocent woman. The
new Parliamentary mailing list is out http://www.aph.gov.au/whoswho/index.htm Join the Forum. If you're wondering what to write
about, there's plenty of food for thought there. Go to http://onmyhonour.blogspot.com/ and read
the works of David Wolf. What we have is a monumental Diplomatic stuff up. It
is an embarrassment to all decent people. Let us make 2008 the year that
Schapelle Leigh Corby is freed and safely returned to her home in Qld. Let
us begin the process of clearing her and her family's good name. Sadly Schapelle's father, Michael passed away on the
17th January of prostate Cancer. Our deepest sympathies are with the family at
this time. We grieve with them, but we are more determined than ever to bring
Schapelle home for her sake and to honour Michael. Kind regards to all Noel |
