Motion calling for the release of Kathleen Folbigg passes NSW Upper House

By TILEAH DOBSON

A motion that seeks the release of Kathleen Folbigg has passed the NSW Upper House, with pressure now onto the Attorney-General Michael Daley to follow through.

Folbigg has spent the last 20 years in a 25 year prison sentence after being convicted of murdering her three children, and the manslaughter of one child since 2003. 

Folbigg, who has firmly maintained her innocence, had the final hearing of her convictions last month and it was found that there was reasonable doubt that her children had died of natural causes instead.

Her lawyer, Rhanee Rego has stated that Folbigg is “anxious and confused as to why she is being left in prison.”

“It’s also compounding her complex grief and trauma. Jail is a dangerous place, and Kathleen is now an even more high-profile inmate,” Rego said, as reported by the Guardian.

The motion was spearheaded by Greens MP Sue Higginson, who said the time for Folbigg’s release was “right now.”

“The appropriate action is for the Attorney General to issue advice to the Governor to pardon Ms Folbigg,” she said.

“The Folbigg Inquiry is not a judicial process, we do need to wait for the final outcome of the Inquiry, the evidence alone is enough. The Inquirer doesn’t actually have the power to exonerate Ms Folbigg, that power is vested in the Attorney General – we’re calling on him to act.”

Mounting Pressure

Currently, the former NSW chief justice Tom Bathust KC and the head of the inquiry, is preparing a report on whether mercy should be exercised to the governor. 

However, Daley is facing ongoing pressure to exercise the power independent of the inquiry to recommend to the governor to grant the 55 year-old a pardon or release her conditionally on parole before the report is published.

Human rights and criminal barrister, Felicity Graham has said that the inquiry was no “reason for delay by the Attorney in setting Ms Folbigg free.”

“If the Government is concerned about shocking the public conscience by releasing Ms Folbigg today, then they need to realise that they are appalling decent right-minded people by not doing it. The delay is intolerable, to Ms Folbigg, and to our whole society,” Graham said.

“If the Government thinks it is a friend to women, an excellent start would be to ensure that a woman is not left languishing in prison when it has been publicly acknowledged by our highest authorities that she should not be there.”