THE CORBY CONNECTION

To put it bluntly… this is crap. I opened my bundle of Sunday papers yesterday and saw the front page headline in the Sunday Herald Sun: “Help me , Mr Howard. Schapelle begs PM to rescue her”.

It was alleged drug smuggler Schapelle Corby’s latest publicity ploy. Then I opened today’s papers. And on the front page of the Herald Sun there she was again: “ I’ll listen. Schapelle’s Bali judge welcomes 11th-hour official Australian letter”. And there’s a picture of the judge and a picture of Corby who now goes by her first name in the news headlines.

Which other alleged drug smuggler has ever had this attention?

It reinforces my earlier argument that Schappelle Corby has attracted the attention of the Australian media, for repeated front page treatment, because she is young, white, pretty with big boobs. They aren’t giving this much attention to the so-called Bali Nine. Or a scrawny Vietnamese kid on Death Row in Singapore.

I reiterate: I don’t know, cannot know, if she is guilty or innocent of trying to smuggle more than four kilos of Australian pot ( “lemon juice”) into Bali in her boogie board bag. But what has the Australian Federal Government got to do with this? Why are they involved? What have allegations of cocaine smugglers INTO Australia and baggage handlers got to do with charges of a young woman allegedly smuggling pot OUT of Australia.

An Indonesian court will make its own decision. And the Australians pouring out e-mail petitions deriding that country’s legal system were more than happy when the same courts brought down death penalties for the Bali bombers. You can’t have it both ways.

As I have said before: I believe Schapelle Corby will be found guilty. The prosecution is no longer asking for the death penalty. If convicted, I believe she will get five years jail. Or spend five years behind bars. And, behind the scenes, our government will be pushing to have her serve it back in Australia. And I think that is wrong. If I commit a crime in Florida then I serve my time in Florida. Likewise Indonesia.

I cannot believe that a newspaper like the Herald Sun (part of the group I write a fortnightly column for) can devote so many front pages to this alleged drug smuggler. As I said: Young, white, pretty, big boobs. Makes good headlines I guess.

Monday, May 16, 2005

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2005