Indonesia warns against Bali boycott over Australian's drug case
Indonesia warns against Bali boycott over Australian's drug case
Rod McGuirk, Associated Press/Canberra
Calls for a tourist boycott of Bali to protest an Australian
woman's 20-year sentence for smuggling marijuana onto the
Indonesian island are driving a wedge between the two countries,
an Indonesian official said on Monday.
Several travel agents have advocated the boycott, along with
relatives of Schapelle Corby, 27, who was convicted and sentenced
last week for smuggling 4.1 kilograms of marijuana onto Bali in
October.
Many Australians believe Corby's tearful claims of innocence.
Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa warned
against a boycott, with negotiations to start next week on
Australia's push for a prisoner transfer agreement that could let
Corby and 13 other Australians in Indonesian prisons serve their
sentences at home.
"With the greatest respect -- and the greatest sympathy, also,
even for the feelings of Australians to Miss Corby's case --
using this case (to) drive a wedge between the two peoples and
two governments is ... not advisable," Marty told Australian
Broadcasting Corp. radio.
He said the proposed boycott could neutralize recent
improvements in the neighbor countries' relations since they hit
a low in 1999, when Australia led a UN military force to restore
order in Indonesia's former East Timor province in the bloody
aftermath of its vote for independence.
A new era of cooperation began when the two countries launched
a joint investigation into the 2002 terrorist bombings on Bali
that killed 202 people.
Relations further improved with the inauguration of
Indonesia's first directly elected president, and Australia's
generous help after the Dec. 26 tsunami devastated parts of
Indonesia.
Marty said a tourist boycott "will be totally alien, totally
in contrast to the fact that the two governments' relations have
been on a better footing."
Australia hopes to expedite a prisoner exchange treaty
following the Corby verdict. But Marty said the process would
likely to take longer than Australians hope -- if an agreement is
reached at all.
Indonesia would oppose an interim deal tailored for Corby, he
said.
The court judgment has outraged Australians, with opinion
polls showing the vast majority believe Corby is innocent.
Many have urged the government to do more for her -- and some
want the government to reconsider its A$1 billion (US$780
million) tsunami aid package to Indonesia.
Despite the government warning that criticizing Indonesia
could damage Corby's prospects when an appeal court decides
whether her sentence is appropriate, her supporters are
organizing a national day of protest on July 10 -- her 28th
birthday.
Organizer Rachelle Hamilton said she believes thousands of
people will take to the streets in marches across Australia on
the day.
Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told CNN
television on Monday that he had spoken to Indonesian Foreign
Minister Hassan Wirayuda on Sunday about the Corby case.
"We both understand that there's a certain amount of public
emotion about this issue," Downer said. "Our government ...
understands that in the end, these are matters for the courts,
not matters of political interference with the courts."