Innocence, compassion and justice are such strange forces

"If she is guilty I feel for her, that a tragic mistake and tragic act has done so much damage to her young life. If she is innocent, my feelings for her are redoubled." ~ PM John Howard

I don't think even the war in Iraq has generated this much interest and media attention.

For Australia, at least.

It began as a little article in the papers about a woman caught smuggling marijuana into Bali last year. It was nothing new, nothing too exciting. There were dozens of such reported cases every now and then. It was almost forgotten... the tsunami disaster struck, there were the end-of-the-wars anniversary celebrations, there were stories about hostages being held in the Middle East, and many other events occurred throughout the world since. But still the case was not forgotten. Somehow... Corby was different. She had the face of innocence, and the quiet confidence displayed by a person who knew she did no wrong. She lasted eight months behind bars while her case was heard in court, remaining strong only because she knew she did nothing illegal. Or at least, that's what we believe. That's what an entire nation believes. The truth of the case might never be discovered. She had a weak legal team defending her, they said. The prosecutors didn't have to do anything much either. The drugs were found in her bag and that was that. The court rejected the evidence of a few witnesses - friends and relatives, a professor of criminology who had interviewed her, a baggage handler, and an inmate relaying bits of a conversation he had overheard about two prisoners claiming that there was a third party involved - reasoning that they "they cannot prove the defendant is not the owner of the evidence".

It's amazing how it came to be like this. It's just like in the movies. Reporters and film crews even tried to set up the courtroom into a film set. Prime Minister John Howard came in to intervene. Ministers... and more heavy hands played in.

When the verdict was announced, the whole country stopped what they were doing, their faces glued to the television. In pubs, department stores, schools, offices, homes, airports... pandemonium broke out as people weeped, cursed, or simply shook their heads in disbelief. They had believed that their fellow citizen would be coming home... but no. The judge had declared her guilty and she was sentenced to 20 years in jail. The prosecution wanted more... they wanted a life sentence. Aussies lost faith in the Indonesian justice system, branding them racist and corrupt. Relations between the two nations had been strained... somewhat. People call in to the radio encouraging a tourism boycott of Indonesia. Politicians received hordes of hate mail asking why couldn't they have done more. How brittle 'diplomatic' ties can be, how futile diplomats' years of efforts can be rendered with just a simple verdict.

But why Corby? What about the other convicted smugglers serving time overseas, or those two who're on death row in Vietnam and Singapore? Their cases are just as desperate, just as injustified and tragic. For most of them anyway; the areas are all grey.

It's one of those stories, like they say, that "seem to go on forever". We'll never know what actually happened.

posted by Husky @ 5/28/2005 12:24:00 PM  |