Debbie Voulgaris, an Australian mother-of-five serving a 15-year prison sentence in Taiwan for drug smuggling, is set for a retrial in the coming weeks, her daughter has revealed.
Voulgaris, 58, was arrested at Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei in December 2023.
According to News.com.au, her daughter, Maria, is now calling on the federal government to raise her mother’s case with Taiwanese authorities, after Voulgaris spent two birthdays behind bars.
A parliamentary petition seeks “clemency, humanitarian consideration, and further investigation into the circumstances of her sentencing.”
Maria described her mother as “an Australian citizen who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Taiwan after being deceived and set-up by people she trusted.”
“She has maintained that she did not knowingly commit any crime and has co-operated fully with authorities,” Maria said.
“Debbie is a kind, trusting, and selfless person who made the mistake of trusting the wrong people. She now bears the full weight of a crime that others were responsible for.”
Maria highlighted the urgency of the upcoming retrial, calling it “her last chance to appeal. Her last hope and ours.”
She also stressed that their fight was not against Taiwan itself: “This is about my mum, an innocent woman who deserves to come home to her children and not be oceans away. I am simply asking for her voice to be heard, for her story to be seen with open hearts and minds.”
The parliamentary petition, limited to Australian citizens, will close on October 1 and will be formally presented to parliament. A separate Change.org petition has already gathered over 13,000 signatures.
Source: News.com.au.
