Biological attack likely connected to Corby case
Biological attack likely connected to Corby case
Ivy Susanti The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Indonesian government condemned on Wednesday the intimidation of its embassy staff in Canberra, calling it a cowardly act, after the embassy received an envelope with white powder -- believed to be anthrax.
Most officials have not ruled out a link to the verdict by a court in Bali, which sentenced last Friday a young Australian woman to 20 years in prison for alleged cannabis smuggling.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Marty Natalegawa said his country would not be intimidated by such tactics and would try to open the embassy again after the 52 staff members complete a 2- day quarantine period.
"It's a sorry, cowardly attempt at intimidation, which is to be condemned. It runs contrary to the close relations the Indonesian and Australian governments have enjoyed," Marty said in a phone interview.
"We are in close cooperation with the Australian authorities to address this issue. Indonesia will not succumb to such intimidation and we'll strive to ensure the continuation of the various services provided by the embassy," he added.
Marty said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda, currently accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during a visit to Japan, had called for all Indonesian citizens in Australia to increase their vigilance.
"He (Hassan) has instructed the Indonesian embassy in Canberra to advise Indonesian nationals and other consular offices to raise their level of alertness," he said.
Australian federal police sealed off the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra on Wednesday after a "biological agent" was found in a package sent to the building.
The federal police said the envelope was delivered to the embassy around 10:30 a.m. (7:30 a.m. in Jakarta) through the normal mail service and was identified as suspicious by embassy staff. Ambassador Imron Cotan was not inside the building at the time.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Wednesday that the powder, sent in an envelope addressed to Cotan, and which was spilled on to the floor inside the embassy, was apparently in retaliation for the sentencing of Australian Schapelle Leigh Corby.
Howard said that the powder was a type of bacillus bacteria, the same family that contains the anthrax bacteria.
"It's not an innocent white powder. It's some type of biological agent. I'm not a scientist, but they say it belongs to the bacillus group and is being tested. I can't tell you any more than that," Howard told Channel Nine television on Wednesday.
The bacillus group contains various forms of bacteria, one of which can cause anthrax, which killed five people in the United States in late 2001, after it was found in letters to media and government offices in Washington, Florida and elsewhere.
"It would be the first time, if the preliminary results are confirmed, such a biological agent has been sent in Australia," Howard added.
He said it would be a "remarkable coincidence" if the incident at the embassy was not related to the Corby case. "It will do great damage in the eyes of many Indonesian people to the relationship between our countries and it certainly won't help Schapelle Corby."
He apologized on behalf of the Australian people to the Indonesian embassy staff and government. "It's an act of reckless indifference to human life and I apologize on behalf of the Australian people to the Indonesian embassy and to the Indonesian government."
Corby's conviction sparked an emotional backlash in Australia, with the Indonesian embassy receiving threatening telephone calls and many Australians calling for a Bali boycott and a return of their tsunami aid donations.
Corby says she is innocent and that the drugs found in her bodyboard bag by a Bali customs officer were planted there by someone else. Newspaper polls show 90 percent of Australians believe Corby is innocent.
Many Australians believe Corby was not given a fair trial and her lawyers on Wednesday formally launched an appeal against the verdict.
In April, bullets were sent to the Indonesian consulate in the west Australian city of Perth along with a letter containing a warning that staff would be killed unless Corby was freed.
Prominent Corby backers distanced themselves from the attack. "I am a little bit disgusted, I can't believe people will go to those lengths to support somebody," Corby's close friend Jodie Power told ABC radio.
"I think it's very un-Australian. It's one thing to boycott Bali but it's another thing to do something like that and put people's lives at risk."