Colombian Cassie wants YOU to pay for her legal fight
Taxpayers could end up paying for the legal aid of accused cocaine smuggler Cassandra Sainsbury under a government scheme designed to help Australians facing serious criminal charges overseas.
The 22-year-old's Bogota lawyer confirmed he and Miss Sainsbury filled out a form to apply for financial assistance as her legal costs mount, News Corp reports.
'They are looking for state funds in Australia for the legal costs, so she was signing a form for that, to put before the government there,' Colombian attorney Orlando Herron said.
'I have no idea how much they are looking for. It is to cover the lawyer's fees in Australia.'
The Attorney-General's Department may help Australians facing serious criminal charges in an overseas country with the cost of their defence.
Applications can be made to the department for grants to cover legal fees and other expenses - which can often run into hundreds and thousands of dollars.
It is only granted to Australian citizens who are facing either imprisonment for 20 years or more or the death penalty in a foreign country.
According to the guidelines, the government can cover costs associated with legal defence of up to $290 per hour, psychological treatment of up to $2000 and counsel fees of up to $3600 per day.
It can also cover the costs of travelling and flying out legal counsel from Australia to aid Miss Sainsbury during her trial.
The financial scheme paid part of the long-running legal costs of high profile drug smuggling cases including the two executed Bali Nine members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran and Schapelle Corby.
The accused drug smuggler is locked in El Buen Pastor prison - where she has been since her arrest on April 11 - and has been advised to plead guilty to avoid the maximum sentence of 25 years.
But Miss Sainsbury has maintained her innocence and claims she was tricked into carrying the 5.8kg of cocaine which she believed were separately wrapped headphones.
Vision from inside Bogota Airport obtained by Nine News shows Miss Sainsbury being led away just moments after handing her passport to an immigration officer on April 11.
The 22-year-old Australian woman had earlier checked-in for her flight to London and was being questioned by the officer who had already been given her travel details when she was intercepted.
Miss Sainsbury had initially appeared calm throughout her exchange with the guard, even smiling and chatting with the officer.
Her mood changed when she was asked why her ticket, which was purchased by a mystery person in Hong Kong, had been bought just hours earlier, before being handed over to a supervisor and marched into a secure area for further questioning.
Staff at the hotel where Miss Sainsbury spent her last night of freedom said she was accompanied by a well-dressed Colombian with a stylish haircut and dark skin everywhere she went.
Hotel manager Ingrid Hernandez said Miss Sainsbury had just the one visitor during her stay.
'Supposedly she met him around the hotel where she was staying, in the first few days when she arrived here,' Ms Hernandez said, according to the The Daily Telegraph.
'She didn't speak Spanish so was supported by him. He helped her, accompanied her, they went everywhere together.
Miss Sainsbury told family she called the man who gave her the packages when she was arrested, but he hung up on her and reportedly destroyed the phone.
She said his name was Angelo, but she had no further information.
The hotel manager said they had no record of the mystery man either.
'He came a few times, the receptionists told me, but we don't have a record of him because he didn't stay the night. She said this guy was very friendly, he spoke English and Spanish,' she said.
The hotel's deputy manager also saw Miss Sainsbury with a black mystery man.
'I did see her one time with a man. The man, he was tall, he was black and they were talking in the lobby before they left the hotel,' they told Nine News.
Staff also said she spent most of her time inside the room of the hotel, which was situated in a notorious downtown Bogota neighbourhood.
She is reportedly 'permanently crying' inside notorious Colombian prison El Buen Pastor where she remains behind bars.
Sources from inside the prison said Miss Sainsbury was not in a good mental state inside the small, overcrowded cell where she was kept with other prisoners.
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...axpayers-fund-Cassie-Sainsbury-legal-aid.html