http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/islam-conversion-no-ploy–leslie/2005/09/08/1125772591560.html
Michelle Leslie has broken her silence to deny claims her “love” of Islam is a ploy to manipulate sentiment in Indonesia, where she is fighting drug charges.
The 24-year-old, who is facing up to 15 years in jail on charges of possessing two ecstasy tablets, said her “love and respect” for Islam was born four years ago, when she began living with the Muslim family of her close friend Norah Cullen in Australia.
Speaking for the first time since her arrest on the way to a dance party in Bali last month, Leslie said “people should not pass judgement without walking in [her] shoes”.
She added that “being a Muslim has really helped me through” the trauma of recent events.
The model sparked controversy when she emerged from her Denpasar jail cell in a black burqa.
“It upsets me greatly that people think I’m trying to manipulate the system,” Leslie said in a statement provided yesterday through her family spokesman, Sean Mulcahy.
“People don’t understand that I