Shame, shame ashamed Aussie

Kate Ingleton wrote that she is ashamed to be Australian, and so she should be (The Jakarta Post, June 4: An apology to all Indonesian people). Without one shred of evidence and without waiting for the results of an inquiry, Kate Ingleton sat in judgment of and found Australians guilty for the letter hoax in Canberra.

The letter was sent and received in Australia, therefore Australia and Australians are guilty? Marijuana was found in Schapelle Corby's bag, therefore she is guilty? When did presumption of innocence fall to resumption of guilt? Kate Ingleton has thrown herself on the sword of shame, I doubt Australians who live in and understand Indonesia will follow her example.

Indonesia is struggling to throw off the chains of thirty years of dictatorship, preceded by hundreds of years of colonial rule. The legal system by which Schapelle Corby was judged is a throw back of the repressive Dutch colonial system which suited the colonizers and the following dictators. It has no relevance in a democratic society. The ashamed Aussies would do well to direct their attention to saving the life of a young woman convicted under this repressive Dutch colonial law. What if, at the end of the day, Corby is shot to death, how ashamed would you be to be Australian and to whom would you then be apologizing?

MARTIN BROOKES, Worcester, Australia