Too much talk about Corby

Too much talk about Corby

Let us imagine a young Indonesian woman is on trial in an Australian court. If guilty, she will be sentenced to life in prison. Her case touches the fears of many Indonesians about Australia, its attitudes and court practices. Will she get a fair trial? What if the Australian justice system, so alien to Indonesians, is corrupt? Indonesian public opinion is strongly behind the young woman. The country's leaders feel they must take a public stand and starting with the president, begin none-too- subtle heavying of the Australian judge. Imagine this possibility and ask: How would Australians react?

They would be insulted and angry -- no, outraged. They would decry any foreign attempt to influence the court. The judge would be praised for rejecting out of hand any arguments adduced in this blundering way, and for keeping to due process. Yet change the details, and this is precisely what Australian politicians are doing in the Schapelle Corby case.

The Prime Minister, John Howard, says he has not prejudged the case, and he understands that Australians would be angered if the roles were reversed. But he has given the lie to both assertions by consenting to a letter from the Attorney-General to Corby's judges which mentions that police are investigating airport baggage handlers over allegations of drug trafficking. The Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley, has gone further, saying he feels for Corby, and hopes the verdict will be "true and fair and right and just". His words seemed so close to a declaration of her innocence that he later had to deny he had made one.

Part of Indonesia's democratization, which has been proceeding, despite setbacks, since the downfall of Soeharto in 1998, is the establishment of independent courts and the appointment of impartial judges.

In making their public pronouncements on the case, Mr Howard and Mr Beazley are pandering to Australian public opinion which has been pained by the nightly footage of Corby's obvious distress and is asking why politicians are doing nothing to save her. -- The Sydney Morning Herald