Pubdate: Thu, 06 Feb 2014
Source: Mercury, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2014 Davies Brothers Ltd
Contact:  http://www.themercury.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/193

TOO HIGH A PRICE TO PAY

SCHAPELLE Corby has paid an extraordinarily high price after being
convicted of smuggling 4.2kg of cannabis into Indonesia.

Corby has been incarcerated in the living hell of Kerobokan Prison in
Bali for 10 years.

She has been in and out of hospital for treatment for depression, amid
grave concerns for her psychological health.

 From the start of her dreadful ordeal, the Queensland beautician has
denied she knew anything about the large quantity of marijuana
Indonesian customs officers say they found in vacuum-sealed plastic in
her unlocked boogie-board bag.

Her court case and continuing appeals for clemency have dominated this
nation's news headlines to the extent her name will be forever etched
in our minds.

The name Schapelle Corby will go down in history, along with that of
Lindy Chamberlain, as a woman caught in the crosshairs of a courtroom
drama that gripped the nation.

Everyone in Australia, it seems, has an opinion about whether Corby is
guilty.

All sorts of rumours, gossip and insinuations have been
made.

All sorts of theories, alibis and scenarios have been
raised.

But guilty or innocent, most fair-minded Australians will agree this
young Aussie has paid too high a price.

Originally sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, Corby has been treated
like a murderer by the Indonesian justice system.

However, the crime she is alleged to have committed is one the
Australian justice system would regard as the result of gross
immaturity, ignorance and stupidity rather than one of malice or evil
intent.

After 10 years in hell, Corby now faces the possibility of release
from prison in the next few days.

However, her nightmare is far from over.

Indonesian Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin told reporters yesterday
that, "God willing", he hoped to read and sign her parole documents
before the end of this week.

There were no guarantees.

Whatever was said yesterday, Corby will be hesitant to hold out hopes
of release until she walks out the prison gate.

She has already been through a violent rollercoaster ride of
expectations.

Even if released early next week, Corby will not be entirely
free.

She will be required to stay in Bali until 2017 on a good behaviour
bond that restricts what she can wear, where she can go and how she
can behave.

She will be free in name only as the tentacles of the Indonesian
justice system will continue to coil around her daily life for years
to come.

Of course, upon release she will be free to sell her tell-all story to
the highest bidder.

But while that may help her set up a new life, it will not return the
years lost in the dank confines of a Bali prison.

Nothing will bring back those years.

Nothing will return her youth.

And it is highly likely she will continue to pay a high price
psychologically for the rest of her life.

Schapelle Corby's story holds within it many important lessons, and
there remain many possible twists and turns to come.

If the intent of the sentence was to deter other Australians from
taking cannabis into Bali, the Indonesian justice system has very
likely achieved its objective.

However, the cost of the terrible deterrent is being paid by one
unlucky, and perhaps naive, young Australian woman.

Hers is too high a price.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D