Schapelle Corby - Letter From An Indonesian Citizen
By Gabrielle Reilly

If you come to the streets in Jakarta for example, and you asked us one by one wether or not we hate Australia, The Answer Will Be "We do not hate Australia & the Aussies and we did not have anything against them"..
My heart was destroyed when I witnessed the Bali bombing on TV and I deeply symphatized to the victim's family. I was also very angry when the bombers did not get the appropriate punishment for their crime, I want all of them to be executed!!
Back to the SC case, from my point of view the verdict from Schapelle is too harsh but its the best that the defense team & Schapelle at the moment. I have to remind you that Indonesia does have a very strict law on drugs (any kind of drugs, including marijuana), we don't tolerate any kind of smuggling or drug trafficking. We also do not give special treatment to anyone on this matter, not for an Indonesian or a Foreigner. I know a lot of cases of drug smuggling ended in a death penalty verdict for the smugglers, most of them are Indonesian. Most of the foreigner smuggler used to be African, so I am quite schocked when westerners are involved in the drug smuggling business to Indonesia. Yes, the law about drugs in Indonesia is very very strict (I just hope we have a stricter law on bombers, terrorist, etc..), but you have to respect that. Every country has its own way in doing things...
So what I am trying to say is the judge did not have a lot of choice, there aren't any strong evidence that can defend Schapelle's statement that she is not guilty and she did not know how the marijuana got to her bag. I am sure that Schapelle is a good person and everyone is convinced that she could not do such a thing, but a court or a judge cannot think like that. The judge must see the evidence, the statement from the witness and other things as well. If the judge is allowed to make a verdict according to his/her feelings, I am sure that Schapelle will not be in jail and every Australians won't hate Indonesia so much. The fact is that Indonesian customs found marijuana in Schapelle's bag and they have to arrest her. If someone planted the pot deliberately then there should be evidence to proof it, but there are no such evidence. I heard that Qantas and the Australian goverment cannot back her in providing evidence. Schapelle and her defense team did not have a lot of options, so are the judges (we have three or four judges in our court). All the facts just points to Schapelle and not to somebody else, She is very unlucky (If she is innocent). I personally did not think that she could do such a thing, but wether she is innocent or not I can't say...My heart wishes that she is innocent.

I also have to admit that our judicial system is terrible, I cannot believe those terrorist and the Bali bombers did not get the punishment that they deserved. Our justice system is not that good either, the police should have strong evidence to pin those terrorist. I know that all of the Australians are gutted when knowing that the bombers only got a small time in jail, I was angry too.. Our judicial system is so corrupt or impotent, most of the Indonesians are just too disgusted and do not want to know anything about it anymore. The goverment is corrupt also, but I am hoping with the new president leading Indonesia, it will change.

I have read all of the comments regarding this SC case and I am dissapointed that you guys want to boycott Bali and Indonesia. If you guys afraid to go Bali or other parts of Indonesia because you could end like Schapelle and got drugs planted in your travel bags, then you are wrong.. These things can happen anywhere in the world, not only in Bali. And how many times that you ever heard that tourist got arrested in Bali because someone planted drugs in his/her bag ? I am sure this is the first in a very long time (if that sort of thing ever happened before in Indonesia).
I notice recently on TV that there are Australians still enjoying themselves in Bali and I really appreciate it. I want to go to Bali and still find many Australians there, we are friends, neighbours... we should not hate each other. I read something on the newspaper about Indonesian fishermans that was ilegally fishing on Australian waters and was arrested by Australian authorities. and If I'm not mistaken, one of the fishermans died in jail because he did not get proper treatment. You do not see us boycotting Australia when that happened.. even when our workers are constantly being tortured by their employer in Malaysia, we did not straight away jump to any conclusions and make the Malaysians our enemy.
We Indonesians are friendly people, especially to foreigners. We did not think bad of strangers, we always think positive.. When I heard western saying that "you should not talk to strangers", I am thinking that Indonesians are really the opposite. If you ever find a group of Indonesians or just a single Indonesian who are criminals, bad people and being a terrorist, that's just the minority of fanatics.. They are not wanted by most of Indonesians and they do not represent the image of an Indonesian in general.

well, that is all that I can say. If I said anything that might offend anyone, I sincerely apologize.. I don't want relationship between Australians and Indonesians to be damaged, please do not hate your neighbour and have faith in us Indonesians. I really hope that Schapelle Corby is innocent, and for that to happen needs positive actions and cooperation between our goverments and people. But if She is guilty, I hope that her sentence could be reduced.. we just have to pray to God.
Don't boycott my country and make our relationship worse, I want to see you guys in Bali very soon...

Thanks... (Adi from Jakarta).

For more comments from the Schapelle Corby Petition click here

Remember every social movement in history began with people banding together to make a difference.

PATIENCE

Our patience will achieve
more than our force.

- Edmund Burke