It’s been almost a month since Cassie Sainsbury was arrested on drug trafficking charges at El Dorado International Airport in Colombia. A member of her legal team has now revealed she’s applied for legal aid to help pay for the presumably mounting legal bills.
Orlando Herran, the Colombian lawyer for the 22-year-old, told The Daily Telegraph:
“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,” he said.
“I have no idea how much they are looking for. It is to cover the lawyer’s fees in Australia.”
Cassie was caught with almost 6 kilograms of cocaine in her suitcase on April 11 – she maintains she thought they were headphones.
The cocaine found in Cassie’s case.
It comes as a Colombian judge presiding over accused drug smuggler Cassie Sainsbury’s case has spoken out.
Judge John Jairo Zambrano, who sent the Australian-native to jail ahead of her trial, told Nine News she was “too young to be caught up in something like this”.
“What caught my eye was her age. She was 22, too young to be caught up in something like this,” he said.
Zambrano also disputed earlier claims from Orlando Herran, that she would be allowed to serve a potential jail sentence in Australia.
“The system is clear – do the crime in Colombia, do the time in Colombia,” he said.
Cassie Sainsbury remains in custody in Colombia.
Cassie’s fiancé addressed the media in a press conference on Friday.
Scott Broadbridge, 23, would not take questions from reporters but he read out a statement about Cassie, his voice breaking at times.
“I would just like to say I have no doubt that Cass is innocent of these charges and I will support her no matter how long this takes,” Scott said.
“Cass and I are engaged to be married and I intend to marry her.”
“Cass is a delight of my life, I know that she is not involved in the drug trade and know that she was not deliberately taking drugs or carrying drugs anywhere.”
“It is extremely stressful for her but we are able to talk every day and that is a great comfort to both of us,” he said.
Cassie remains in notoriously overcrowded El Buen Pastor Prison which is home to more than 50,000 criminals.
