Jailed Perth Grandmother prepares for appeal in Tokyo court

Perth Now

6 days ago

Perth grandmother Donna Nelson is preparing to appear in the Tokyo High Court on Thursday hoping to appeal her drug smuggling conviction.
It is understood the brief hearing will allow the court to decide on what evidence can be used at Nelson's appeal, and if the appeal is even allowed to proceed.
It follows her conviction at trial in Japan last December which saw the 59-year-old sentenced to six years behind bars under difficult conditions in Japanese prison.
'It hit us all very hard, because we were so confident that she would be coming home, and we just thought it's so obvious that she wasn't aware of what was going on and she shouldn't be where she is,' said Kristal Hilaire, the eldest of Nelson's five daughters.
Ms Hilaire was preparing to fly to Japan yet again this weekend to support her mother. Perth grandmother Donna Nelson was sentenced to six years jail in Japan. (HANDOUT/NELSON FAMILY) Credit: AAP
The journey has become all too familiar for Nelson's family, who have visited as often as they can since her shock arrest at Narita International Airport in January 2023.
Nelson was found with 2kg of methamphetamine concealed inside her suitcase.
The Perth community leader and one-time Greens political candidate has always maintained her innocence, insisting she is the victim of a romance scam.
At trial Nelson told a Japanese courtroom she had no idea the man she believed she was going to marry had hidden the drugs in the case.
'The nerves for Thursday are kicking (in), because there's a chance that they will say we are going to reject the appeal altogether,' Ms Hilaire said.
'We're hoping that some of the evidence her lawyers have been working on will be admitted, and there's a witness that they want to have admitted as well.'
'We're just crossing our fingers and really hoping that she gets the best chance at putting her full story out there and coming home.' A sketch of Donna Nelson on the first day of her drug smuggling trial. Credit: Yoshitaka Enomoto/7NEWS / Yoshitaka Enomoto/7NEWS
If an appeal goes ahead, Nelson's legal team will push for an acquittal and, at the very least, a dramatic reduction in sentence.
'It's crazy that she's gotten through all this time if she didn't have a positive mindset, I feel like someone would lose their mind,' Ms Hilaire said.
'They don't get things like TV or anything like that. They're just alone in their own presence for 23 and a half hours a day.
'Once every three days, they can have a shower if it's not a weekend or public holiday.'
Since her arrest Nelson has also not been allowed to make any phone calls, with communication to her family limited to very short, restricted prison visits if they are in Japan.
Otherwise, she has been allowed to write letters.
'She would be allowed to have five small pages once a week,' Ms Hilaire said.
'With five daughters and the three grandkids, it's not even a page for each person.
'And it takes like, three weeks for that letter to get to you, so you never really know how she was doing in real time.'
Ahead of the hearing Nelson has been transferred to a detention facility in Tokyo, closer to the high court, which has no limit on letter-writing pages.
It will make it easier to write home to her five children and three grandchildren, with a fourth grandchild on the way as her daughter Janelle Morgan is expecting in November.
'Mum will never tell us how hard it is to cope, but I know it would have been really, really hard for her to feel like she's not here throughout Janelle's pregnancy,' Ms Hilaire said.
'She's praying for a miracle, that she can be home for the birth of her next grandchild.
'It just makes her even more eager and desperate to get home.'