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Anna Marshall - 31 May 2005
The hypocrisy, prejudice and corruption of the Indonesian legal system was
glaringly highlighted on Friday 27 May 2005 when three Indonesian judges sitting
in a crowded Bali courthouse found 27-year-old Australian tourist Schapelle Corby guilty of
possessing 4.1 kg of marihuana, sentencing her to 20 years in a stinking,
overcrowded, rat-infested jail.
In the barbaric conditions of an Indonesian jail, this was tantamount to a
death sentence. Most long-term prisoners are dead within ten years of being locked
up.
Without food and medicine supplied by family and friends, Corby's life
expectancy in jail
will be short.
Corby was never going to get a fair trial. Barely able to conceal his racist
glee in putting a white woman in her place, Chief Judge Linton Sirait smugly boasted during
the trial that in
500 drug trails he had never found a defendant not guilty.
Amid a national outcry in Australia over the harsh sentence, Australian politicians have
been calling for Australians to respect Indonesia's legal system and accept its
verdicts.
In my opinion, this is absolute rubbish. Why should we respect the barbaric
legal system of one of the most corrupt nations on earth?
Why should we respect a legal system that in 500 drug trials, brings
down 500 guilty verdicts?
Our citizens are entitled to a fair
trial, regardless of the location of the court. And having been convicted, they
are entitled to be jailed in humane circumstances.
For the past eight months, Corby was forced to share a cramped, rat-infested room with seven other women.
A recent visitor to Corby reported that the daily ration of food
consists of a rancid bowl of rice with one or two prawn heads. She also reported
that the squat toilet in the room was blocked, creating an overpowering stench.
Prisoners are forced to prepare their food adjacent to this toilet. There is
no such thing as a hot shower. The best Corby can do is ladle cold water over
her body from the daily ration of one bucket of water.
This treatment clearly contravenes Article 7 of the United Nations
Declaration of Human Rights which declares "No one shall be subject to
torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
Prime Minister Howard must stop his mealy-mouthed subservience to Indonesia's
barbaric, corrupt justice system and take care of his own. His government has a
clear duty of care to all Australian whether within Australia or overseas. To
this end, the
Australian government should launch a task force aimed at setting up prisoner
exchange programs with every country that does not meet humane standards in the
treatment of prisoners. There are currently about 130 Australians in foreign
jails, including 45 in Asian jails.
Appoint a team of carers for jailed Australians
The federal government should immediately employ a team of carers to visit
Australians jailed in third world countries as frequently as possible to ensure
their health, nutrition and safety needs are met.
Australians live in a modern civilised society. None of our citizens, guilty
or not, should be subjected to the depravity of living in third world
hell-holes.
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