May 272005
I know I have some readers in Oz, so I’d be interested in hearing your opinions on the conviction of the Australian woman who was found guilty of smuggling marijuana into Bali. Most Australians seem convinced of her innocence. I hadn’t even heard of this story until today, but I’m curious to know what evidence exists to fuel such certitude. And would she be getting this much attention if she was a less attractive woman? And doesn’t twenty years in an Indonesian jail seem just a teensy bit excessive?
On a completely different note, I had to post the picture below. There’s something about it that makes me giggle like a twelve-year-old.
That’s very … phallic.
Well, she may or may not have done it. The Oz reaction is probably skewed by nationalistic tendencies. But as my husband (Aussie who has, like every other Aussie, been to Bali many times) says: dumb move: it’s like bringing coals to Newcastle. There is SO MUCH pot there already.
There’s a famous Aussie song that goes: “I’ve been to Bali too…”
And yes, 20 years is ridiculous.
I’m an Australian in the US, and am mystified as to why an entire country is convinced she’s innocent. I’ve followed the trial reasonably closely (almost impossible not to do if you read the Australian press), and haven’t seen any compelling evidence to suggest her innocence. I’m apparently not alone in this. An Australian law professor quoted in the NY Times seems to think the Indonesian court’s decision was correct: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/28/international/asia/28indo.html?
My best guess for people’s overwhelming conviction in her innocence is the massive (and perhaps slightly skewed and racist) media coverage in Australia – most of which I’ve escaped. I think there’s also some outrage that one could be killed for being caught bringing 9 lb of marijuana into a country.
Of course, some really compelling evidence suggesting her innocence might be revealed – I haven’t seen it yet, though.
The allegation initially seemed implausible because smuggling a big bag of marijuana to Bali is a really stupid idea. The drug is reporedly available there cheaply. I later heard a report that Australian marijuana is better than the stuff you could buy in Bali, so that might weaken the argument.
More significantly, Australian police broke a major drug smuggling network operating among baggage handlers who appear to have transported the drugs using other people’s luggage – just the claim she made. There was also a news story demonstrating that baggage handlers frequently broke into people’s bags. Two other people have come forward to say that they arrived in Bali with drugs having been inserted into their bags; the Australian embassy advised them to flush the drugs down the lavatory. The embassy refuses to comment. There’s also a criminal who claims he overheard a discussion among people who knew how the drugs got into her baggage, but that’s pretty weak evidence.
Taking it all together, there are so many converging pieces of evidence that I think the conviction is insecure.
jds
I’m clearly missing something important. What is the goal of baggage handlers putting drugs in people’s luggage? Is there a drug retrieval step I’m not seeing?
Has she not seen the film “Midnight Express”? Barring the tragedy of a frame-up: it is the risk one takes with the law one breaks.
The story resonnates into sensational news, undoubtedly, for the counter flow of suffering: the third world is going to teach us a lesson in law and order after all the first world has done for them?! Why those impoverished, little brown up-starts! You would think that with all our guns and money we would command more respect.
Also, good-looking women make the news. Of all the abuctions which take place in the US, national headlines are devoted exclusively to blond females who go missing.