Corby case must not damage bilateral ties

Corby case must not damage bilateral ties

Michael Danby, Melbourne

The last year has seen relations between Australia and
Indonesia reach their highest level. But the controversy
surrounding the trial of Schapelle Corby is putting those good
relations at risk. This is something both Australians and
Indonesians should work to prevent.

Following the December tsunami, there was enormous sympathy
for Indonesia in Australia. The Australian public donated A$280
million to tsunami appeals, the great bulk of which went to
relief work in Indonesia. Australians also approved the
Government's decision, supported by the Opposition, to give A$1
billion in aid to Indonesia.

Australians also greatly appreciated the speed and efficiency
with which the Indonesian police captured those responsible for
the 2002 Bali bombing in which 88 Australians died.

Finally Australia welcomed Indonesia's full return to
democratic government with the election in 2004 of Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono as President.

But the arrest and trial on drug smuggling charges of
Schapelle Corby has put all this at risk. Elements of the
Australian media have been quick to exploit public sympathy for
Corby. The commercial television service, the Nine Network, has
run a strident populist campaign claiming not only that Corby is
innocent, but that the Indonesian police are corrupt and
Indonesia's courts are unfair.

The Sydney tabloid newspaper the Daily Telegraph also ran an
anti-Indonesian campaign, claiming that Corby's 20-year sentence
for drug possession was outrageous compared with the two year
sentence received by the Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir,
who the paper said was the mastermind of the Bali bombing.

This ignored the fact that Ba'asyir has not been convicted for
responsibility for the Bali bombing, but only on other charges.
It also ignored the fact that those who have been convicted over
the Bali bombing have been sentenced to death.

Finally a Sydney radio announcer, Malcolm Elliott, compared
the judges in the Corby case to monkeys. "They don't even speak
English, they're straight out of the trees," he said. (He was
sacked by his radio station.)

It was these populist campaigns which inspired some anonymous
person to send an envelope containing white powder to the
Indonesian Embassy in Canberra. Although the powder turned out to
be harmless, Australians were mortified at this stupid and
criminal act, which was strongly condemned by people of all
political views.

How representative of Australian opinion are these anti-
Indonesian opinions in the press and on radio? I would say -- not
very. Australians may think Corby is innocent, but most accept
that she has had a fair trial. Many people are critical of
Corby's legal team for the inadequate defense they mounted.

Most Australians accept that if Australian citizens smuggle
drugs into or out of other countries, they must bear the
consequences. Australia have shown little support for the nine
Australians arrested in Bali in April on charges of heroin
smuggling.

Most Australians will, however, oppose the use of the death
penalty in these cases, since Australia abolished the death
penalty nearly 40 years ago and does not approve of its use for
any reason.

Australians remain strongly sympathetic to Indonesia's many
difficulties. When the Nias earthquake struck in March, there was
another outpouring of sympathy and donations, and support for the
relief efforts mounted by the Australian defense forces.

When nine Australians were killed in a helicopter crash in
Nias, Australians greatly appreciated President Susilo's visit to
Australia and his meeting with the families of the service men
and women who lost their lives.

Although some elements of the media have taken a populist,
even racist, anti-Indonesian line, other sections of the media
have been highly critical of this. The Australian Broadcasting
Corporation's program Media Watch has exposed the cheap anti-
Indonesian stunts of the Nine Network and the Sydney Daily
Telegraph. Quality newspapers such as The Australian, The Age and
The Sydney Morning Herald have given fair and balanced accounts
of the trial.

Andrew Bolt, a leading tabloid columnist, wrote: "What must
Indonesians make of this hissing mob that threatens their
diplomats and vilifies their country? And all this for the sake
of a convicted drug smuggler who seems quite probably guilty."

There are still many differences between Australia and
Indonesia. Australia is largely European in terms of the origins
of its population, and at least nominally a Christian country.
Indonesia is a developing country, an Asian country and an
Islamic country. Australia has always been a parliamentary
democracy. Indonesia has recently emerged from decades of
dictatorship.

Australia's legal system is based on British law and trial by
jury. Indonesia's legal system, based on a mixture of Dutch and
Islamic law, seems very foreign to Australians -- particularly
the reverse onus of proof.

But despite these differences, many Australians and many
Indonesians are working for better relations between the two
countries, both at the government level and at the popular level.
Australia and Indonesia work closely together on security issues.
Trade and investment are increasing

More and more Australians and Indonesians are traveling
between the two countries -- as students, as tourists, on
business. Gradually, understanding between the two peoples is
improving.

This process may be set back, but it will not be reversed, by
incidents such as the Corby case, which arouse strong feelings on
both sides. Australians who engage in drug smuggling must expect
to be punished under Indonesian law. The Australian press should
grow up and stop unfairly attacking Indonesia.

But Indonesia must also ensure that such people get a fair
trial, and that police and official corruption continues to be
stamped out. Outbursts against Australia by some elements in
Indonesia are also unhelpful.

As a member of the Australian Parliament, it has been my
privilege to visit Indonesia and meet with Indonesians of all
kinds. I know that most Indonesians (like most Australians) are
sensible and moderate people who understand that friendship and
co-operation between Indonesia and Australia is in the national
interest of both countries.

We should not let that friendship and co-operation be derailed
by a handful of irresponsible elements on both sides who seek to
exploit incidents like the Corby case for their own commercial or
political purposes.

The writer is a Labor Party member of the Australian House of
Representatives and Secretary of the Opposition National Security
Committee.