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Schapelle Corby Turns 28 in Bali Jail

By Jeralyn, Section Foreign Affairs
Posted on Sat Jul 09, 2005 at 06:35:02 PM EST
Tags: Schapelle Corby (all tags)
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Australian Schapelle Corby turns 28 today - inside a Bali jail.

The New York Times has a rather mean-spirited article about her Sunday- focusing more on Australia's racist policies than on Schapelle, and asserting that Scapelle's case is gathering attention because she is white and good-looking. It castigates Australians for not making Tran Thi Hong Loan, a 33 year old Australian of Vietnamese descent, a cause celebre since she is serving life in prison in Vietnam for attempting to leave the country with 880 grams of heroin in a bottle of hair spray.

Two wrongs don't make a right. The point here is not racism, it is Indonesia's draconian penalties for drug offenses, particularly those for marijuana.

Happy Birthday, Schapelle, we wish you a successful appeal

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    Schapelle Corby Turns 28 in Bali Jail | 4 comments (4 topical)
    Re: Schapelle Corby Turns 28 in Bali Jail (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:03 PM EST
    I fail to see how the article is mean spirited. It just highlights the inherent racist nature prevalent in Australian mainstream culture today. Why is it OK to criticize the extrordinary coverage given to the travails of young white women in the US but not when it happens in Australia?

    Re: Schapelle Corby Turns 28 in Bali Jail (none / 0) (#2)
    by jackl2400 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:03 PM EST
    And the fact that a white woman "victim" gets more media attention in a "wrongful imprisonment" situation is different exactly *how* from the normal run of "damsel in distress" stories in which the victim is inevitably an attractive caucasian women and similar "missing person" cases of the non-whites, unattractive and men are widely ignored (e.g., 'Runaway Bride' Jennifer Wilbanks, Aruba presumed murder victim Natalee Holloway, Laci Peterson, etc. etc.)

    Re: Schapelle Corby Turns 28 in Bali Jail (none / 0) (#3)
    by Randinho on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:03 PM EST
    I have to disagree with you here, TL. I think that the article brought up legitimate questions about Australian society. While I wouldn't agree that there is a zero-sum equation in terms of coverage, the fact is that Schappelle Corby is getting a great deal of attention and others with equally legitimate cases are not. One cannot ignore the race issue here.

    Re: Schapelle Corby Turns 28 in Bali Jail (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:03 PM EST
    If only all defendants got Corby-level support (not that it might not be counter-productive). The main point, as you say, is the death penalty for marihuana dealing. The subsidiary point to that is that the penalty is a result of the USA's "War on Drugs". Indonesia was more civilised and sensible in its penalties before it succumbed to US influence.

    Schapelle Corby Turns 28 in Bali Jail | 4 comments (4 topical)