Can Mudcat Power help overcome injustice? Yes of course it can!
A couple of recent events have once again prompted me to give this case yet another plug.
Today's news of the release of Abu Bakar Bashir- the motivator behind the Bali bombings - and the statement of the Indonesian ambassador that Australia should mind its own business.
The recent interview on 60 Minutes of "convicted drug offender" Michelle Leslie.
Granted that 60 Minutes is not the most creditable of authorities however Michelle Leslie's own account was I believe entirely plausible.
She claimed that when stopped in a police roadblock outside the nightclub she would have had ample time to have hidden (or swallowed) any ecstacy tablets that might have been in her possession. She claims that she had nothing and that the drugs were planted on her.
Following the advice of her legal team, her family paid approximately $20,000 in bribes and she agreed to plead guilty. This strategy worked well and she was released after only a few months. The downside is that she is now a pariah in Australia and elsewhere as a "convicted drug user"
Schappelle Corby might well have done better to have followed the same course of action but has instead maintained her innocence and refused to pay the requisite bribes.
I think in a sense that Schappelle is indeed a political prisoner because Indonesia (a predominently Muslim and anti Western society) is making her the scapegoat for its anti Australian bias and refuses to consider the possibility that she may be innocent.
As I have mentioned before, a forensic examination of the seized drugs could have provided a wealth of information. e.g. were her fingerprints or DNA on the bag? Was it Hydroponic? Where was it grown (trace elements in water during growth might give geographic clues)
The Australian Federal Police have the expertise to perform these tests but declined to do so.
The drugs have now been doused in petrol and burned closing off that opportunity.
I know this is a music forum but there are a lot of vey good people among the catters so I don't think I am wasting my time in giving this one more shot.
Values of fairness and justice are universal and I will not accept that Indonesia is allowed to do things differently to other countries.
The Australian government's perpetual toadying to Indonesia is not bringing us any benefit.
Sigh
Keef