Tracy Chapman says her friend, Kathleen Folbigg, is “running on adrenaline” and has “no hate in her heart” after experiencing her first 24 hours of freedom following her pardoning on Monday.
Ms Chapman faced media on Tuesday morning along with Ms Folbigg’s lawyers. She described what the past day had been like since Ms Folbigg left a Grafton correctional centre.
“[Kathleen’s] so grateful to be surrounded by her friends and her family and her legal team. She actually said to me this morning, ‘my face muscles hurt from smiling so much’,” Ms Chapman said.
“She just wants to catch up on some long-lost sleep and be surrounded by the people she cares about. It’s hard to explain how she’s felt, you know, incarcerated for all these years.”
Ms Chapman said Ms Folbigg spent her first night of freedom in 20 years enjoying the little things in life, “garlic bread and pizza for dinner”, a “Kahlua and Coke”, and sleeping in a “real bed”.
With Ms Chapman at Tuesday’s press conference was Ms Folbigg’s lawyer, Rhanee Rego. She told the media Australia must review its post-conviction review system if it “wants to make some good from a tragic story”.
“The state has done the unimaginable to Kathleen Folbigg,” Ms Rego said.
“They have put her in prison when she lost her four children. This is a tragic story, but Kathleen is an example of a broader problem in the system.
“If Australia really wants to make some good from a tragic story, they’ll seriously consider reviewing the system of post-conviction review,the same system that took too long to get to today.”
Ms Rego says the next steps will be to have Ms Folbigg’s “convictions quashed”. She said it’s still too early to say anything, but she will be discussing with “Kathleen next steps”.
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