What The Hell Is Wrong With Indonesia

[CaptainMikey]

I just saw the case of the australian that had drugs planted on her and she is now going to serve 20 years in prision. Maybe the USA and Australia should completley pull out of indonesia and let them selves take care of themselves without our help. Or maybe when we have a indoneisan that is up for trial, make a rulling that day and sentence them to the maximum sentence. It would be funny to see them complaining about the exact same thing that they are doing.

I swear on my grave, if I were ever to be wrongfuly imprisioned in a foriegn country, all the guards and officals that had conatct with me would have their heads on a steak in my backyard.


Well I bet if I went over and planted drugs on some highpower indonesian they would be let off.

One word for that justice system is POS.

Rant OFF.

[ShuswapFireF]

An Indonesian court has found Australian woman Schapelle Corby guilty of smuggling drugs into Bali and sentenced her to 20 years in jail.

Corby's family said she would appeal against the verdict, which could have seen her sentenced to death.

Corby, 27, said her luggage had been tampered with, after she was arrested last October with 4.1kg (9lbs) of marijuana in her bags at Bali airport.

Her case has stirred widespread public sympathy in Australia.

Corby fought back tears and there were screams from her supporters in court, as the verdict and sentence were announced.

"Judges are of the opinion that the accused imported marijuana," Judge Wayan Suastrawan said.

"She was arrested red-handed at the airport."

The beautician from Queensland had continually pleaded her innocence to the charges against her, claiming that baggage handlers in Australia put the drugs in her luggage as part of a smuggling operation that went wrong.

Her parents were in court to hear the verdict.

Her mother shouted "liar" when the judge gave his decision. Corby smiled weakly, and repeated: "It's OK, it's OK".

More than 100 Australian journalists had travelled to Bali to report on the case and the judges' two-and-a-half-hour summing up was carried live on Australian TV.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the government would supply lawyers to help her appeal.

Prior to the court ruling, Australian Prime Minister John Howard had called on people to accept the verdict, amid widespread public belief Corby was innocent.

He said that although everyone "feels for this girl", it was necessary to "trust the Indonesian justice system".

"We have to respect the justice system of other countries," he said.

Canberra had urged Indonesian prosecutors not to ask for the death penalty.

There have been calls for the government to press for her to serve her sentence back in Australia.

"The government is going to begin discussions formally with the Indonesians in the next 10 days about the prisoner transfer agreement," said Mr Downer.

Many Australians now say they would boycott Bali, a destination desperately in need of tourists after the disastrous impact of the October 2002 bombing

[CaptainMikey]

What made me angry was the fact that this goes on almost yearly and there was an article that I had found while searching the subject that stated that drug "framing" was prevelant in australia.

Plus, doesnt the accused usualy get the chance to defend themselves in the courts in most of the world. By what the reports from indonesia said, the accused was not able to offer any defense or any wittnesses to the facts.

That is why I am dam proud to live in the USA. We are innocent untill proven guilty in the court of law. (but in the media we are guilty untill proven innocent.)

[mcaldwell]

Originally posted by ShuswapFireF
He said that although everyone "feels for this girl", it was necessary to "trust the Indonesian justice system".

"We have to respect the justice system of other countries," he said.


Yes and no. I am all for respecting other countries procedures, but only if they meet a similar judicial standard to ours. We have a duty to try to protect our citizens from extreme injustice and harm when they travel abroad (although thier are certainly qualifications to that statement).

For example: If an American or Canadian woman was arrested in a third world country with a known corrupt justice system, we would not sit by on the premise of "Respecting" their justice system. In a case like that, I would say screw the respect, and send in the Special Forces (After all diplomatic measures were exhausted of course. ;) ).

I honestly don't know enough about Indonesia to comment on it though. I would love to see the details of the case and trial (and not just the media spin) to make a better judgement. This woman could certainly be guilty of smuggling, in which case she should answer to that countries laws.

[BFDNJFF]

This reminds me of that kid ..........i cant remember exactly where but an american kid went vandalizing with spray paint in one of those countrys and the US tried to save him but he ended up getting an a$$ wooping with a cane , i am sure someone remembers this story.
IMO he screwed up and deserved it, I just hope this women isnt being locked up unfairly , There is a movie similar to this incident that came out years back about some girls and drugs that had the similar outcome and it was based on a true story.

[stillPSFB]

This is certainly creating a lot of controversy down here - there is certainly plenty of evidence to suggest that the drugs might have been planted on her at Sydney Airport, where police have uncovered a drug smuggling operation.

Given all that we have done for Indonesia recently ($1 billion in aid after the recent Tsunami, earthquake relief in April during which 9 of our service people died in a helicopter crash), I think there will be a backlash of some sort.

[lutan1]

I just saw the case of the australian that had drugs planted on her and she is now going to serve 20 years in prision. Maybe the USA and Australia should completley pull out of indonesia and let them selves take care of themselves without our help.

Hang on a second here guys and take a step back and a big breath.

Don't punish the Indonesions over the verdict of a select few. The efforts after the tragic tsunami will need to be in place for many years to come as they rebuild and we should not lose site of the humanitarium efforts required....

Given all that we have done for Indonesia recently ($1 billion in aid after the recent Tsunami, earthquake relief in April during which 9 of our service people died in a helicopter crash), I think there will be a backlash of some sort.

You're probably right, there will be a backlash of some sort, but there shouldn't be, as per my comments above.

[PattyV]

If we expect them to free Corby just because we agve them aid during a time of need, then we are furthering the corruption of their judicial system.
I think the problem that COrby had was that her jailers were not corrupt enough. I know two people that may or may not be related to me that may or may not have had a lot of marijuani in their possesion. They may or may not have been in Malaysia, which shares the harsh drug punishments. A woman that may or may not have been my mother may or may not have paid the cops a 'private bail' of $5000.

Let it be said that Malaysia has the best police force money can buy :D

[firemanpat29]

Dont like the rules?? Stay home.. Dont like the
punishment dont do the crime. I may or may not
have done things wrong in the past but I have
always had a big enough pair to face the consiquences.

[fireguy919]

Originally posted by BFDNJFF
This reminds me of that kid ..........i cant remember exactly where but an american kid went vandalizing with spray paint in one of those countrys and the US tried to save him but he ended up getting an a$$ wooping with a cane , i am sure someone remembers this story.
IMO he screwed up and deserved it, I just hope this women isnt being locked up unfairly , There is a movie similar to this incident that came out years back about some girls and drugs that had the similar outcome and it was based on a true story.

That was not a third world country. That was in Japan. If you go to another country and break the law, why would you expect that country to treat you any different. You went there if you broke a law then you get what you get. If our laws where more strict there might not be as much crime. Their law is their law. Just because we come from a country that is in better off that being third world. Why should we be above there law. Are we sure the drugs where planted.

[SafetyPro]

Originally posted by fireguy919


That was not a third world country. That was in Japan.

Actually, it was Singapore. Michael Fay was his name.

[PattyV]

We are pretty sure that the drugs were planted.
The common idea is that there was a drug smuggling syndicate that used baggage handlers to stash drugs in unlocked bags after they are checked, then the drugs are taken back out again at the destination by another corrupt baggage handler before security checks. This is done domestically of course.
They think that this is what happened only there was a mix up and they put it on a bag destined for overseas.
Of course we wont know because the Indonesian police didnt
a) finger print the bag
b) test for the origin of the crop
c) test for the origin of the bag.
Might explain further but ironically enough i have to go right a speech for my indonesian class on an Indonesian hero.

[GimliOnFire]

Captain Mikey...

While you're excited about this topic of (possibly) wrongful imprisonment, etc...

Why don't you go read up some on why former Illinois Governor George Ryan commuted the sentence of every death row inmate in that state.

And Ryan had the ethical standards to be a politician in a third world country.

You may also want to do brush up on U.S. drug sentencing laws which could be much harsher on much smaller quantities (albeit repeat offenses) than the 20 years for 9lbs of Marijuana in this case.

Which is all to say, look to see if we live in a glass house before showing outrage.

Question yes. Get worked up about this? Possibly, but there's probably a more important direction to turn your enthusiasm than at Indonesia.

[PattyV]

The major problem that i have with this Corby case is that Australia and Indonesia's relations were going extremely well with the election of the new president.
Now with this Corby case, a bunch of stupid (almost white trash in thinking pattern) Australians want Australia to stop ties with Indonesia, demand we give back the monetary aid we gave for the tsunami victims, etc...
It disguists me and it disguists the Indonesian people even more. These demands are the most petty thing i have ever heard. But because they are so public, this is what the Indonesian people are fed by their media.
The Indonesian people are starting to hate us because of it. I dont blame them. I personally expect terrorist attacks to occur on soft targets like the Bali bombing.
Before you judge me, just think what you would think if you were an Indonesian person whose brother is sentenced to death for having to turn to drug dealing for money cause he has no other means of making a living, and this white girl gets 20 years for having 4 times the amount your brother had.

This is too deep for 0100 and i dont think i make much sense.

[fireguy919]

Originally posted by SafetyPro


Actually, it was Singapore. Michael Fay was his name.

Thank you. Glad it was not the million dollar question.

[mcaldwell]

Originally posted by PattyV
Before you judge me, just think what you would think if you were an Indonesian person whose brother is sentenced to death for having to turn to drug dealing for money cause he has no other means of making a living, and this white girl gets 20 years for having 4 times the amount your brother had.


I don't think anyone is arguing that if she is in-fact guilty, that she should spend the next 20 years in an Indonesian jail. No problem there.

The issue(s) are;

1. Whether or not an adequate investigation was conducted.
2. Whether or not she received justice under the Indonesian system.
3. If not, what is the appropriate response for the people and gov't of Australia.

To reiterate, if she's guilty and that can be proven to a reasonable international standard, she's SOL. Better bring a good book to pass the next 20 years.

If this is a case of an incompetent investigation and/or trial, or worse she was railroaded by a corrupt justice system in order to cover up it's own inability to deal with it's drug smuggling problem, there needs to be some serious action taken to help.

The argument of "you travel, you take the risk" doesn't fly with me. These countries and our own, spend billions promoting tourism and selling this travel (travel agents, airlines, cruise ships, governments). They promote the comforts of home in a tropical paradise. When we shell out big bucks for these trips, we expect a safe and pleasant holiday with health, safety, and legal standards similar to our own, not a 20 year jail term.