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An Australian woman is set to go on trial on drug smuggling charges after almost two years in a foreign jail, with her family holding out hope authorities will believe that she is the innocent victim of a complex love scam.
Perth grandmother Donna Nelson was arrested in January last year at Japan's Narita International Airport and charged with attempting to import almost two kilograms of methamphetamine into the country.
Her five daughters will be in Japan for her trial, which is due to start in Chiba on Monday.
They believe Ms Nelson, who was formerly married to a West Australian police detective, would never have knowingly carried illegal drugs.
Kristal Hilaire desperately wants to bring her mother home
"Growing up, Dad was the first Aboriginal detective in Western Australia, my grandfather was the first Aboriginal policeman in Western Australia," her eldest daughter Kristal Hilaire said.
"She would never, ever have any kind of involvement in something that could ruin so many lives for other people."
Donna Nelson was the chair of the Aboriginal-run Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service, a position she has since been removed from, and the Greens candidate for Pearce in the 2022 federal election.
She was also the director of the charity Pioneers Aboriginal Corporation which aimed to use sport to assist young people to overcome poverty.
Her daughters think their mum was tricked by a man they knew only as "Kelly", who she met on an online dating site and had been communicating with over the previous 18 months.
She told them he had his own adult children, ran a successful fashion business and was living in Japan.
They planned to get married after meeting up in person.
The man Donna Nelson's daughters say she was supposed to meet in Japan.
"She was vulnerable in that she was really lonely and she just wanted to connect with someone who had similar values."
Her daughters say "Kelly" offered to buy their mother an all-expenses paid trip to Japan so they could meet, but claimed she needed to stop over in Laos because he couldn't get a direct flight as it was during the Christmas-New Year period.
They heard from their mum while she was in a hotel in Laos, who seemed to be enjoying her holiday.
The next news they received was that she'd been arrested in Japan.
Her family worry authorities have not done enough to investigate the man they say lured their mother to Japan.
"I don't believe he worked alone, I think he was a part, and probably still is a part, of a large, sophisticated syndicate or network of people who work all around the world," Mrs Hilaire said.
"We've submitted as much information as we can on this person and not had any feedback, so from what we know, not really much is being done about him."
Donna Nelson's five daughters will travel to Japan for her trial
All of Ms Nelson's five daughters are flying to Japan to attend her trial, the first time most will have seen their mother in almost two years.
Japan's legal system is notoriously opaque.
Those who are arrested are held for prolonged periods without charge, frequently denied bail, interviewed by police without legal representation, and are prohibited from communicating with anyone on the outside world except their lawyer.
The country also has a 99 per cent conviction rate.
It's a system advocates Human Rights Watch have described as "hostage justice".
"We're going to finally see her (at the trial) and have eye contact with her, hopefully be able to smile at her," Mrs Hilaire said.
"But then knowing the ordeal that she's facing, and knowing we have to hear of how this all happened, I guess, in a way, sometimes it's easy to just try not to think about all the details."
The trial is set to start on Monday, with a verdict due on December 4.
Source: https://www.abc.net.au
