An Australian mother of five, accused of smuggling seven kilos of cocaine and heroin into Taiwan, is locked in a cramped prison, isolated from her family and with no one to talk to.
Debbie Voulgaris, 57, has been in a Taiwanese prison since she was arrested at Taoyuan International Airport in December after about $1.25 million worth of drugs was reportedly found in black plastic bags in her suitcase.
Her ex-husband John Voulgaris told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday she was framed by criminals posing as foreign investors who used her as a drug mule, and stopped taking his calls after she was arrested.
However, local police allege that Ms Voulgaris was paid US$2,700 to cover her flights and accommodation while transporting the drugs from Malaysia to Taiwan.
If found guilty, she faces death by firing squad, but the sentence could be reduced to a long prison term.
Until her case returns to Taoyuan District Court in August, she will be held in jail and not allowed to speak to her ex-husband or her five children in Melbourne.
Debbie Voulgaris (pictured), 57, was arrested at Taoyuan International Airport in December
Ms Voulgaris (pictured) was arrested after drugs were allegedly found in her luggage in black plastic bags
Taoyuan Women’s Prison (photo) where prisoners are forced to work in factories all day
It is likely that Ms. Voulgaris is being held at the Taoyuan Women’s Prison, where inmates are forced to work in factories, given gag orders and required to buy their own blankets.
According to a British government website, there are two or three prisoners per cell, each with a foam mattress, but extras must be purchased from the prison shop.
Talking between inmates is only allowed during breaks, meals consist of bread and rice and are only suitable for Chinese palates, and all fruits and vegetables are purchased at your own expense.
Nearly half of the inmates in Taoyuan Women’s Prison have committed drug offenses.
Ms Voulgaris has not been visited by family members, but has been able to speak to her legal team and officials from the Australian office in Taipei.
An application for her release was rejected in March, with judges Cai Yirong and Hou Jingyun ruling there was substantial evidence she posed a flight risk.
Her lawyers had argued that their client had not spoken to her family in three months, had difficulty adjusting to Chinese food and could not speak Chinese.
However, the judges ruled that these were ‘not factors to be taken into account in determining the need for detention’.
An American expat who spent weeks in the Pingtung detention center in the south of the country previously told the Taipei Times that overcrowding was a major problem, with only 75 percent of detainees being assigned their own beds.
Her ex-husband John Voulgaris (pictured) says his wife was ‘set up’ by human traffickers
The visitors’ reception at Taoyuan Women’s Prison (photo)
Prisoners are accompanied by guards in the prison, where mainly drug prisoners are held (file image)
Those held in Taoyuan Women’s Prison are only allowed to speak during factory breaks
Prisoners in the Taiwanese prison during an activity in one of the classrooms
His cellmates used batteries and toilet paper to light their cigarettes, there were no clocks and watches were forbidden.
Taiwanese police claim Ms Voulgaris initially “vehemently denied” knowledge of the drugs, before later claiming her ex-husband was behind the scheme.
Mr Voulgaris, who owns a home lending company, told Daily Mail Australia: ‘We don’t know anything about bloody drugs and have never seen or touched them in our lives!’
He first met the criminals posing as investors 16 years ago and had gone with them to a Taiwanese bank in 2007 as part of their business dealings.
They kept in touch, but their lawyer had recently contacted the former couple with a new proposal.
“All we did was a foreign investment,” he said.
‘They wanted to invest. I sent $3 million of my money.
‘When I found out [about her arrest]I tried to contact them but they turned off their phones.
Speaking to the ABC this week, Ms Voulgaris’ lawyer, Leon Huang, said it was “essential” that her ex took the stand as he was the only person who could corroborate her claims.
He described her as a “good-natured person” who “easily believed people” and had been used as a drug mule.
“Based on her description … it appeared that Ms. Debbie Voulgaris was, first of all, unaware of the nature of her travels,” Mr. Huang said.
“And number two, she had no idea what was in and under her luggage because there is a hidden compartment and she was not aware of it.”
Mr Huang said that because his client had admitted guilt early on, while still insisting she knew nothing about the drugs, she could avoid the death penalty.
“When the court finds someone deserving of sympathy, like Debbie’s case, they generally don’t want to offer the option of the death penalty,” he said.
However, she is unlikely to receive the death penalty after Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled last August that imposing a life sentence or death penalty for drug crimes is partly unconstitutional.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said a detained Australian woman in Taiwan was receiving consular assistance.