What price justice in Lombok?

This letter is about evasive justice in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. For a year and a half now, my human rights have been denied for no other reason than greed, the scourge of mankind. The destructive forces of corruption, collusion and nepotism are rife in this beautiful province, the truth muffled.

I am a naturalized Indonesian woman of 83, born of a Swiss/English father and Australian/Scottish mother. For too long I have put up with the hanky-panky that has been handed me by the concerned government departments in Lombok regarding the trespassing and destruction of my property and injuries to my body by a Frenchman on a tiny, precious coral island off the coast of Lombok where I have lived for 16 years among the beauty, peace, safety and company of the intrinsic people.

My objection to the devastation of my property on the beachfront brought forth these arrogant words, and I quote: "I am a citizen of the world and can do what I want, how I want, where I want and when I want." Do we need this human bulldozer in our midst?

This was followed by the violent manhandling and assault on my not-so-young body, in cahoots with his paid assistant, the horse and cart driver -- the Frenchman's reason, a desire for a personal path on private land without formal government approval. He threatened to kill me, to gouge my eyes out and cut my throat.

The government of West Nusa Tenggara has said, in the presence of witnesses, that this is a criminal case. How about the effect of a story like this on the already ailing Lombok tourist trade. Personally I love this place but the golden rule of "pay up or lose out" is causing many people, including me, to ask where the promised reform movement has disappeared to. What chance does the average man or woman have for justice? I, for one, certainly do not intend to change my principles by taking up bribery to ensure my rights. Many people are scared to speak up. I am not. I believe that justice is due to us all. Human rights should be the same for us all, not be dependent on corruption.

My situation now is this. The Mataram Police and the attorney general have informed me that there are not enough witnesses or evidence to pursue this case against the favored Frenchman from Nice. Do these government bodies actually know their own laws or have they cooked up their own laws? Those in the "legal know" in Jakarta say that, without a doubt, the law is on my side.

Does Mataram not acknowledge my police complaint and five other reports from respected doctors? Who do they think inflicted those officially reported wounds on my body? My puppy dog? Who has caused me to be ill for so long and to be still under medication for post-traumatic stress disorder and so have to sell my beloved property on the island. I have lived all over the world, starting in Calcutta, India, and have never suffered violence. I am a life-long pacifist but now, at 83, am forced to begin a new life on the mainland away from the sea. For me, this is a tragedy.

Who do these Mataram civil servants think they are fooling? I ask them to study their own Indonesian laws and give me the true justice to which I am entitled.

TRICH WILLIAMS

Gili Meno, Lombok