Innocent until proven guilty

Innocent until proven guilty

While I think Dewi Anggraeni's take on Australians' attitude
to Indonesia is interesting and informative, I think it goes too
far. For every Aussi with a racist or xenophobic view, there are
many thousands who have normal, friendly outlook toward Indonesia
and Indonesians. I think it is easy to misread Australian's anger
about the Corby trial, given our sensationalist press and given
our government's tendency to foster xenophobia in the population
for political purposes.

Many Aussies are upset about the way the Corby trial has
progressed, but that anger is as much about our government's
handling of the case as it is about Indonesia's judiciary. Our
federal police chief sent a letter to the court stating that
there was no corruption at our airports, a fact that has been
found to be totally false. Check-in film and baggage weight
information was not made available; no baggage handlers have been
interviewed and no expert legal counsel was made available to
Corby's defense team until the very last minute.

Another matter that worries Australians is Bali's judicial
system. The police did not fingerprint the bag, they did not
check for the origin of the cannabis, they did not film the
opening of the bags. And why they did not look into possible
baggage tampering at the Bali airport? The prosecution boasted
publicly that they only prosecuted guilty people.

Where is the presumption of innocence? The judges openly
boasted they had never found anyone innocent. The judges did not
take into account that Corby has no history of drug pushing and
that other tourists have arrived in Bali with drugs mysteriously
appearing in their bags (this is well documented and known to our
embassy in Bali). The judges publicly stated that Corby had not
proved her innocence. Why is there no transcript of the court
case, so anyone can look at all the evidence and the background
to the verdict at a later date?

Add to this the manhandling of Corby by the police into and
out of the courtroom, the disgraceful media scrum inside and
outside the courtroom, the disgusting facilities and food at the
jail where she is housed. These issues must trouble Indonesians
as well. God knows how many innocent people are in jail if the
judges never find anyone innocent.

All I hope for now is that the court of appeal will take the
correct "innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt"
approach, and review all the information fairly. I hope they will
demand from our federal police any information that will shed
light on this case.

BREFNEY RUHL
Byron Bay, Australia