Eanna O'Cochlain awaiting appeal for drug conviction in the Philippines

I've been hearing about the case of Cork man Eanna O'Cochlain on and off over the last while, and it's not sitting right with me. So, where else to go but After Hours?

Out on bail awaiting his appeal at the moment, he's likely about to get sent down for 12-14 years in a Philippines jail after airport police found 0.38 grams of marijuana in his cigarette box. How they 'found' it is highly questionable.

He was arrested at Laoag International Airport in 2013 as he was about to leave the country with his wife, who is from the Phillipines herself. Both of them were visiting the country to conclude some business related to her late father's estate.

Eanna contends that he is the victim of a regular scam carried out by airport police on vulnerable looking foreigners passing through the Philippines' airports. He had a box of Holborn rollies in his possession which airport security inspected and took away. After returning, the police claimed that they were marijuana joints in the box and arrested Eanna before boarding the plane.

Two days after being arrested, he was asked to pay a fee (about €7,000-10,000) to make the charges go away, but chose not to because he had no guarantee that he would be released having paid.

Eanna claims his trial was a farce, where video evidence which proves his innocence was ignored. Even his own Filipino lawyer seems to have taken advantage - During the trial, he contacted Eanna's desperate wife and told her if she paid the equivalent of about €4,000, Eanna would be found not guilty. She paid the lawyer what he asked, Eanna was still found guilty.

As for help from his own government, that's probably why I'm here with the thread - I just heard Eanna's Irish solicitor give an interview on Newstalk earlier where he was reporting, yet again, that this Irish citizen is getting absolutely no help from our government and is not just being forgotten about, but ignored.

Within minutes of the interview ending, there was a rare statement from Simon Coveney's office on the case along the lines of 'We're doing all we can, but it's complicated because of local drug laws'. That is likely all we'll hear on that until the solicitor makes Eanna's next appeal on national airwaves in another few months.

Some articles...

From July 2015:
https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/radio/i-refused-to-pay-their-corruption-money-cork-man-eanna-cochlin-appeals-to-irish-people-for-help-to-turn-over-drug-charge-in-philippines-31364090.html

Video appeal from Eanna, Christmas 2016:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/irish-nurse-facing-12-years-in-philippines-prison-makes-video-appeal-1.2917635

From October 2017:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/irish-man-facing-prison-in-philippines-feels-abandoned-by-state-1.3263552


Sure - 'You do the crime, be prepared to do the time.' However, I'm really not buying that this particular guy risked taking a tiny amount of weed out of a country notorious for its drug laws and punishments, plus its corruption.

An anecdotal aside - I have an absolute gentleman and his lovely family from the Philippines living next door to me. They moved to Ireland in the last few years to advance their careers. I get on with very well with them, the father especially, and had no problem asking him if these airport shakedowns were a myth or something which could happen. 'Could Happen? It's a regular thing for extra money' was his response. Those joints which are placed on an unsuspecting tourist are referred to as 'bullets' apparently.

Anyway, that's the craic there.

RDM_83 again

He's a middle aged white Irish male who it would seem is likely completely innocent, for some reason this case hasn't been talked about more in the media compared to ( guilty ) attractive young women shifting drugs or young guys with immigrant backgrounds and dubious politics , I can't work out why /s

Nabber

WLM - white lives matter

donegaLroad

He requested that DNA tests be carried out on the evidence as he was confident that no DNA of his would be found.. but the cigarette box had mysteriously vanished.

RDM_83 again

Nabber wrote: »

WLM - white lives matter

We ain't the USA, a good section of our media are trying to jump on the type of world view that's popular there though so I think it's fair to call out their selective blindness in terms of what "victims" deserve coverage

suicide_circus

Where's this guys gushing media campaign?

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

refusetolose

suicide_circus wrote: »

Where's this guys gushing media campaign?

https://twitter.com/CochlainEanna

Ipso

jacksie66 wrote: »

If he was Muslim he'd have Leo personally fly over to break him out of prison..

That's exactly what would happen.

refusetolose

refusetolose wrote: »

https://twitter.com/CochlainEanna

A protected account with a smiling monkey as a picture? :eek:

He hasnt had enough media coverage but hes not helping himself there.

zetalambda

Deleted User wrote: »

An anecdotal aside - I have an absolute gentleman and his lovely family from the Philippines living next door to me. They moved to Ireland in the last few years to advance their careers. I get on with very well with them, the father especially, and had no problem asking him if these airport shakedowns were a myth or something which could happen. 'Could Happen? It's a regular thing for extra money' was his response. Those joints which are placed on an unsuspecting tourist are referred to as 'bullets' apparently.

Your neighbor was referring to a now defunct scam in which customs were placing an actual bullet in your luggage and then demanding money to make charges go away. Nobody ever got convicted from this scam as they needed to prove that you intended to use the bullet in a crime which was impossible to do but many foreigners and filipinos too spent time in prison or on bail before the case would be thrown out by a judge. This is the first i've heard of a joint being placed so maybe its a new version of the scam now that the government have acknowledged that the bullet in the luggage is a scam.

RDM_83 again

RDM_83 again wrote: »

He's a middle aged white Irish male who it would seem is likely completely innocent, for some reason this case hasn't been talked about more in the media compared to ( guilty ) attractive young women shifting drugs or young guys with immigrant backgrounds and dubious politics , I can't work out why /s

Never mind the media, it seems that we can't even get it talked about more in here.

I think the fact that this thread got about 10 posts and then fell off the front pages shows maybe why the media aren't picking this up. If this case can't even get a bit of discussion in a busy, eclectic place like After Hours, unfortunately it isn't going to garner attention in the mainstream.

As Eanna himself said, his case doesn't seem to be "fashionable" enough.

I just had a read of this man's story. How awful it must be for him. I don't understand why our Government isn't fully behind getting him home considering the huge efforts they made for another person. Is there perhaps more to Eanna's case than meets the eye or is it as he said "not fashionable"?

_Kaiser_

Deleted User wrote: »

I just had a read of this man's story. How awful it must be for him. I don't understand why our Government isn't fully behind getting him home considering the huge efforts they made for another person. Is there perhaps more to Eanna's case than meets the eye or is it as he said "not fashionable"?

There was a lot to the case of that "other person" too, but yet all the stops were pulled out to get him back once our VERY media/"likes" sensitive Taoiseach got in.

I think, as others said above, that this lad just isn't of the right persuasion to fire up the Government - female, a minority or a non-Catholic.. or ideally all 3 :rolleyes:

He deserves a fair trial at least but it doesn't seem like he'll even get that.

deco nate

Not enough headline material for Leo and his ilk to get involved.
Sad but true.

222233

Strange that Im not familiar with this story, surely it deserves as much media attention as other stories that happened around the same time no? Hopefully the Govt. will give this man as much attention and assistance as they have given others..

Wheeliebin30

deco nate wrote: »

Not enough headline material for Leo and his ilk to get involved.
Sad but true.

Hold on.

Every political party got involved from fg to sinn fein.

Its not just leo and his ilk.

tomwaterford

It seems an unecessary long sentance for what he has been convicted of??

Tbh I'm suprised he hasn't made a run for it/gotten unofficial help in leaving the phillipines

The_Valeyard

I dont get why this is not a bigger deal or getting more media exposure.

Yes, time for the government of Ireland to get heavily involved in this. Also - and certain people might not like this - some of the religious orders who have strong connections to Filipino society could help. I knew Columban priests years ago and they had spent decades in the Philippines.

The sad truth is that a whole heap of the world's population see a white person, assume they're rich and target them. I wouldn't be in the slighted surprised if Eanna Ó Cochláin's case is in this category. Also, human life isn't valued near as much in many parts of the world as we value it in Europe. That was the biggest cultural shock to me while travelling around Asia.

Wibbs

The_Valeyard wrote: »

I dont get why this is not a bigger deal or getting more media exposure.

As has been noted before he's not female, young, poor, non white, non ethnic. He's a white married middle aged middle class Irish man. A demographic that's about the least supported and least visible among the media and the bleeding heart brigade, both of whom exert the most influence on politicians. Ironically his wife being from the Philippines doesn't help. The same media types tend to quietly regard them as being nurses/maids/mail order brides. Far better for the optics if she was white. Go over much better on the Late Late Show. Me, cynical? Not a bit of it...

dav3

I don't understand the claim that the media isn't covering this story. The OP linked to two of the most popular newspapers in the country, along with a quote from the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
A quick google of the man's name produces multiple links from various media and a number of campaigns to free him.
What more do people want?

Wibbs

Compare and contrast Eanna's media coverage to Ibrahim Halawa or the Peru Two. Compare and contrast the political involvement between Eanna and Ibrahim. Spot the difference.

CurlySusie2018

Has anyone heard any current info on Eanna, I've checked his twitter account and it's dormant since March. There's nothing in the media or google since last year.

I'm also interested in how this man is getting on.

Atoms for Peace

He would have got more support if he had been over there agitating for the MILF.

Alrigghtythen

Has he any sisters that could write a few fake letters in varying ink colours for him?

Mint Sauce

So just how many strands of marijuana is 0.38gs?

I have heard storys of people being arrested because there were traces on the soles of theirs shoes, and accused of trafficing as a result, but this was found in his ciggerette box. Did the authorites plant it, was it his, did they do blood tests to see if he had used it, etc etc etc.

I am a beleiver that if you do a crime in another country, you should face all charges, the sentencing or punishment, I am open to debate. If this guy did traffic or distribute then he should face charges, if he bought a few joints from a local dealer for his own personal use, then not so sure, wrong place at wrong time, and all that. If evidence such as the box its self disappeared, then you have to start thinking are their authorities trying to send put a messege, this is what happens if you get caught, and this was lad was their poor unfortunate example.

yabadabado

Mint Sauce wrote: »

So just how many strands of marijuana is 0.38gs?

.38 would make one small joint at a push.

archer22

In the Philippines roll your own cigarettes are extremely uncommon and automatically assumed to be connected with drug use.
This case of course could be a scam, like another version of the bullet planting..one unusual thing you will notice at airports in the Philippines is locals arriving with their luggage wrapped in clingfilm to prevent anything being planted.
On the other hand some foreigners visiting there are reckless and do use drugs.
Anyhow guilty or innocent somebody arrested there is likely to spend years in prison before a final verdict.
And if eventually found innocent and released after all those years they are then hit with huge visa charges and penalties for 'overstaying' their visit to the Philippines and not renewing their visa!!
I kid you not!

JupiterKid

This case stinks of corruption by the Phillipine authorities and of the poor man being framed.

What the hell is our embassy or our government doing to secure the release of this unfortunate man?

SFA by the sounds of it...

Bunny Colvin

Mint Sauce wrote: »

So just how many strands of marijuana is 0.38gs?

I have heard storys of people being arrested because there were traces on the soles of theirs shoes, and accused of trafficing as a result, but this was found in his ciggerette box. Did the authorites plant it, was it his, did they do blood tests to see if he had used it, etc etc etc.

I am a beleiver that if you do a crime in another country, you should face all charges, the sentencing or punishment, I am open to debate. If this guy did traffic or distribute then he should face charges, if he bought a few joints from a local dealer for his own personal use, then not so sure, wrong place at wrong time, and all that. If evidence such as the box its self disappeared, then you have to start thinking are their authorities trying to send put a messege, this is what happens if you get caught, and this was lad was their poor unfortunate example.

I can't agree with that. Those drug laws are draconian and should never be in place. Yes, if you're visiting a different country then it's in your interest to follow those laws but that doesn't mean they're not absolute bullsh!t. I'd have sympathy for anyone locked away in a foreign prison because of a little weed.

giveitholly

He should change is name to Ibrahim and the Irish authorities would fall over themselves trying to help him

riffmongous

So one year on, the people who complained about the lack of attention for this case, what did you do about it? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the majority did sfa

It's quite frustrating that there is a considerable group of people who will complain about nothing being done but refuse to do anything themselves, and not only that but will also complain about people who actually do something.