Corby might be innocent
Corby might be innocent
The plight of Schapelle Corby and the desperation in her pleas
of innocence drive me to write the first letter I have written to
a newspaper in 15 years.
I was living in Darwin in 1982 when Lindy Chamberlain was
found guilty of killing her nine-week-old baby daughter Azaria in
1980 at what was then called Ayers Rock in Central Australia.
Like the prosecutor is asking for here, she was given a life
sentence.
At the time the majority felt she was guilty because the
prosecution had presented evidence that overwhelmed the resources
of her tiny defense team. As well, at the time all sorts of
rumors were spread around about weird and strange religious
rituals involving infant sacrifices.
Because Lindy never fit the profile of a woman who would kill
her baby daughter, many people later fought to prove her
innocence. Four years later Lindy was released and two years
after that given a full pardon.
Perhaps it is this sad experience in Australia's legal history
that makes 92 percent of Australians believe Schapelle Corby is
innocent.
Her defense team claimed that someone else, particularly
Australian airport luggage handlers, could have put the drugs in
her bag in an attempt to transport them interstate. This makes a
lot more sense than the prosecution's case. Any foreigner who has
ever walked down the streets or on the beaches of Bali will
confirm that there is no shortage of locals trying to sell them
marijuana, at much cheaper prices than it sells for in Australia.
The Northern Territory legal system lost a lot of credibility
by convicting Lindy Chamberlain and for many years both tourism
and investment suffered badly. Bali is still recovering from the
bombing that killed almost 100 innocent Australians. Sentencing
Schapelle Corby to a long jail sentence on the flimsy evidence
presented to date will cause huge damage to the reputation of
Bali and Indonesia, as what happened to her could happen to
anybody.
Almost all of the foreigners I know investing and working in
Indonesia think President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his team
are doing a great job of rebuilding Indonesia's reputation, with
the result that investment and tourism dollars are starting to
come back in again. It would be a pity to see that effort set
back by an unjust decision in Bali.
KEN DAY
Jakarta