Merupakan 'breaking news' pada tayangan semua stasiun TV di Sydney sore hari ini.
Tearful Leslie explains November 25, 2005 - 3:19PM A tearful Michelle Leslie revealed her parents had mortgaged their home and used their life savings to free her. She arrived more than an hour late for her press conference with her father, and Sean Mulcahy, her spokesman, after speculation that she had a change of heart on her way to front the media at the Sydney's Sheraton on the Park hotel. When she did show, wearing black, she apologised for being late and tearfully explained that she had been overwhelmed when she arrived back from prison in Bali and needed to be with her family for a few days. She explained, breaking down, how frightened she had been during the three months she spent in a cockroach-infested cell with 13 women, with only a bucket of water to wash in. She said she had really felt that she would spend the next 15 years rotting in a Balinese prison. ``I can't begin to describe how frightened I was and how confusing it was to find myself in that situation.'' "I'd always expected that if I got free I would always be able to tell the Australian public what happened," she said. ``But now that I'm back here I still don't believe it's safe for me to do so because there's still a number of other young Australians in Indonesian jails, and I simply won't take the risk of making it worse for them than it already is.'' She said what had shocked her was the amount of anger levelled at here, especially by the Prime Minister. "What has really shocked me though is the amount of anger that has been levelled at me, especially from the prime minister," she said. "I know there has been a lot of speculation about whether I was going to tell my story - let me tell you now, all I ever wanted to do was clear my name and also that my story is not for sale." She said it was never her intention to offend the Muslim community and she apologised for any offence she may have caused at wearing the burqa during her court appearance. ``As for the hurtful allegations that I pretended to be a Muslim, let me say first of all it was never my intention to offend anyone in the Muslim community. ``I am a Muslim and I do understand the significance of wearing the burqa, I should have thought more carefully about wearing it in that situation and I apologise for any offence I have caused, it was an extreme situation.'' She said her parents had spent their life savings and mortgaged their house to get her out of prison. "As you can imagine I feel terrible about this and I want to be able to work and repay them the money that I owe them," she said. "I am, however, extremely fortunate, I'm surrounded by friends and family who love and respect me and I'm home. "But please understand this has been extremely life-changing and a terrible experience and I hope that I will be granted the privacy and understanding to be able to recover and get my life back. "And even while I'm doing that I know that there are other Australians in prison in South-East Asia in far worse situations than I was ever in and my heart goes out to them. "I still think about all of the people there - you can't walk away from a situation like that and not be affected." Leslie said she watched many people leave the jail while she was there and she always wished it was her. Yesterday her modelling agency Chic Management said they had parted company with her, which was followed by Leslie's spokesman Sean Mulcahy saying she had faxed through her resignation. Since her three-month conviction for receiving two ecstasy pills in Bali and subsequent release at the weekend, she has been under pressure not to sell her story or to jeopardise the prospects of other Australians facing the Indonesian courts. --------------------------------------------- Michelle Leslie's statement to the media. "Thank you for coming today. "I'm sorry for being late. "I have been criticised for not wanting to talk to the press but to be honest I was really overwhelmed and needed a few days to be with my friends and family before I felt strong enough to talk to everybody and deal with all of you. "I have spent the last three months in a Balinese prison and for the first two months I was in a cell that was infested with cockroaches and had no ventilation and no sun light. "I had to share that cell with up to 13 women at a time and the only relief I got from the heat was a daily shower with a bucket of cold water in an open sewer. "From the day of my arrest until the day I was released I really believed I would spend the next 15 years of my life rotting in an Indonesian prison. "Sorry. (Tears) "I can't begin to describe how frightened I was and how confusing it was to find myself in that situation. I don't think anyone could blame me or my family or my friends for doing everything they could to get me out. "I think that anybody else in that situation would have done the same. "Sorry. (Tears) "I know it was expected that if I got free I would be able to tell the Australian public what really happened. "But now that I am back here I still don't believe it is safe for me to do so because there is still a number of other young Australians in Indonesian jails and I simple won't take the risk of making it worse for them than it already is. "I still can't believe how lucky I am to be here talking to you right now, a free person. Um, what has really shocked me though is the amount of anger that has been directed at me, especially from the Prime Minister. "I know that there has been a lot of speculation about whether I was going to tell my story - let me tell you now all I ever wanted to do was clear my name and also that my story is not for sale. "As for the hurtful allegations that I pretend to be a Muslim, let me say first of all it was never my intention to offend anyone in the Muslim community. "I am Muslim and I do understand the significance of wearing the burqa. "I should have thought more carefully about wearing it in that situation and I apologise for any offence I have caused. "It was an extreme situation. "There has also been very upsetting claims made about my financial situation. "For the record I am not a wealthy person. "My parents are working-class Australians and have spent their life savings and mortgaged their house to get me out of prison. "As you can imagine I feel terrible about this and I want to be able to work and repay them the money I owe them. "Sorry. (Tears) "I am however extremely fortunate. "I am surrounded by friends and family who love and respect me. "But please understand that this has been (an) extremely life changing and terrible experience and I hope that I will be granted the privacy and understanding to recover and get my life back. "And even while I am doing that I know that there are other Australians in prison in Southeast Asia in far worse situations than I was ever in and my heart goes out to them. "And I still think about all of the people there. "You can't walk away from a situation like that and not be affected. "Um, I'm very lucky and while I was there I watched many people leave and part of me was so happy that somebody was able to get out of there but I always wished it was me. "And, um ... that's all." ------------------------ Yahoo! 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