More Schapelle Corby News...

On the Schapelle Corby front, it might be fair to say that, when it rains it pours! Although, what follows is not really news, rather it is a desperate lawyer looking to remain relevant and seemingly concerned that she might be being overshadowed by her Indonesian equivalent, Iskandar Nawing.

Kerry Smith-Douglas, who acts on behalf of the Corby family in Australia and who also appears to be the spokesperson, has gone on the record to describe how the Australian Prime Minister needs to intervene and bring Schapelle Corby home.

Now according to Smith-Douglas the clemency appeal appears destined to fail as the chances of success are slim. The basis of her claims are that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, or SBY, has had the Supreme Court recommendations on the clemency appeal since July 2010 and has not yet acted on them. In fact, there is ongoing speculation as to what the recommendations actually were. However, the most likely among the theories being bandied about is that the recommendations include a significant cut in the Corby sentence, perhaps 10 years.

Aside from the Prime Minister, Smith-Douglas has also written to the Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd. She has also written to the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, and the Shadow Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop. What is interesting is what Smith-Douglas is expecting these Australian politicians to do. Is she expecting that they are going to jump up and down and start wagging their collective fingers at SBY and any other Indonesian politician who might listen, saying "hand out girl over or suffer the consequences of our wrath".

Perhaps Smith-Douglas is expecting that Australia will seek to intervene in Indonesia's sovereign affairs. Maybe she could recommend that the PM and FM, whilst wagging their fingers, threaten to send in the Special Air Service (SAS) and break her out of Kerobokan. After all she is asking the PM to be firm with the Indonesian President and to put diplomatic protocols aside. I would love to be a fly on the wall watching Julia go toe-to-toe with SBY.

Ultimately, the Smith-Douglas letter plays the old "Schapelle's mental state is so fragile that she is hanging by a thread" followed with "her life is in your hands". The truth and the reality is that Schapelle has been hanging by a thread for so long now that people might start to wonder why it has not broken. There is no doubting that Ms. Corby is not the same person who went into prison, prison does that to you. It also seems that it is a fair call to say that she has suffered mentally as a consequence of being in the big house, but prison does that to you too.

Yet, the truth, and the reality, is that Schapelle Corby has been diagnosed by her Indonesian doctors with severe depression and is being treated.

Now, exactly what is it that Ms. Smith-Douglas wants the government to do for Schapelle above and beyond what they do for any Australian incarcerated overseas?

The mind boggles.

Schapelle Corby To Be Released?

I have not written on Ms. Corby's case or the "suffering" she is 'enduring' in Kerobokan prison on the holiday paradise island of Bali in my second home of Indonesia. There is no reason for this other than there not being anything newsworthy or of note to write about until now.

The latest news is a push seemingly by Corby's Indonesian lawyer, Iskandar Nawing, presumably on the insistence of the Corby family. The reality is that the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or SBY to his mates, has had the clemency appeal since July 2010 and has yet to act on it. I suppose I could speculate as to why that is, but I won't for now. I will wait and see what comments, if any, get made to this post.

There has been no official statement from the Indonesian Supreme Court, at least as far as I recall (note to self: go back and check through files), that says exactly what the Supreme Court recommendation was. But, most pundits believe that the recommendation was for a sentence cut of 10 years on the original 20-year sentence. Under Indonesian law a prisoner becomes eligible for parole after having served 2/3 of their sentence. Corby has been in jail for about 6.5 years and as such she would be getting close to making an application for release.

Parole, like anywhere else, can be complicated by a number of issues. As such the application for release would be assessed against a whole range of criteria including not only the prisoners behaviour during their incarceration, but also what is in the best interest of the prisoner and their state of health.

It would seem that Nawing's push is a clear attempt to get some resolution on the clemency appeal by trying to force SBY's hand. However, it is interesting that no one is talking about why SBY has not signed off on the recommendation.

Australian Tourists in Bali...

Australians love Bali! There seems to be very little doubt in that. Latest figures suggest that almost 1 in 4 visitors to Bali are now Australian. Australia has overtaken the Japanese as the most devoted travelers to the paradise that is Bali. in number terms, there are some 600,000 Australians visiting Bali out of a total of 2.53 million visitors.

The bombings of 2002 and 2005 are fading and as those more tragic memories fade there is an ever-increasing umber of Australians choosing Bali as their holiday destination of choice.

The reality is a simple one, and one that makes obvious sense if you think about it. A holiday for a family of four to Perth for seven days with hotel accommodation will set you back many more dollars than a seven-day holiday to Bali. Then again, there are cheaper overseas options for Australians other than Bali (or Indonesia), yet the numbers clearly show that the love affair Australians have with Bali shows no signs of subsiding any time soon.

Bali is a wonderful destination. But, anybody thinking of going should look at where in Bali they are going to visit. Quite simply if you can get out of Kuta, Legian, Denpasar and [more recently] Ubud then it is well worth the effort. I recommend Mengwi and Taman Ayun (family connection to the place), but there are plenty of places further afield worth the effort as well such as Pura Ulun Danu Bratan

Foreign Sex Tourism to Bali..

I read this the other day and sort of pondered whether to write about it or not. I pondered because writing about how the system fails so enormously might encourage pedophiles to chance their hand in the wild frontiers of child sex tourism that are the poor provinces of Eastern Bali. The most impoverished of the provinces; Singaraja, Buleleng, and Karangasem, are those that are most at risk.

Sadly, according to the report, it is predominantly Australians that are taking advantage of Bali's children and sexually abusing them. The reported figures are the tip of the iceberg as a great many of the outrages perpetrated against these children are never reported nor, if they are reported, ever pursued to prosecution. Nevertheless, this is not exclusively Australian perpetrators as there are offenders from all parts of the globe, including Europe (Germany, France, The Netherlands, to name but a few) and the US.

The problem though is not exclusively one of poverty, although poverty is a significant factor, but rather of apathy and corruption combined with an inordinate amount of red tape from a cumbersome bureaucracy that is not pro-active in protecting and supporting children who have been abused.

There were thirteen foreign pedophiles convicted of child sex offences in the period between 2001 and 2008. This does not seem like a large amount considering that there were more than 200 reported incidents of child sex abuse.  A local non-governmental organisation, Committee Against Sexual Abuse, estimates that there are some 150 pedophiles operating on Bali. It does not help that Singaraja does not yet record data relating to pedophiles or child sex crimes.

I appreciate that these crimes can be difficult to investigate and prosecute because not all children or their families are willing to report sexual abuse or suspicions of sexual abuse. I also appreciate that some families unwittingly sell their children into the sex trade in the belief that the "real" intent of the trafficker is to provide an education and a job. Then there are others who perhaps do this knowingly. However, what I cannot understand is why police would not want to investigate pedophilia in a more pro-active way considering that it is a known problem in the areas of Eastern Bali?

Although, in the big scheme of things I am probably less surprised than I should be that one can place a "price" on the violation of a child. Maybe it is just a simple case of everything has its price, and the price to turn a blind eye to the sexual violation of children in impoverished places is undoubtedly not that much.

Is the answer as simple as education and community outreach where men, women, and children are taught that it is not OK to be sexually abused in exchange for food or payment of one's school fees. There is no problem if someone wants to provide you food or fees for school as a gift, but this does not mean that you owe them the innocence of your children to pay off some alleged debt.

It would appear that the modus operandi is now one of "out of sight, out of mind" as pedophiles go further and further away from main urban areas in search of their victims.

What I do not get at the moment, and perhaps this is a lack of research, is why Australia is not more pro-active in pursuing Australian pedophiles wherever they may be found. Australia has laws on its statute books that provide for jail terms of up to 17 years and fines of up to AUD 500,000 for those convicted of child sex offences. The law has been drafted as such that the crime does not have to occur in Australia. The law simply states that anyone who engages in a sexual act with a child under 16 or grooms a child under 16 for sex is guilty of a crime, even where the offence is committed overseas.

The Australian Federal Police website includes a section on Child Sex Tourism and has forms to complete for those who have suspicions about Australians who may have committed a child sex offence overseas.

I am not sure what the point of this post is. It is an issue that bothers me and it is one that I think needs more attention. Perhaps, it is as a father of a young son I cannot fathom such an atrocity happening to him. Perhaps, it is because as an educator I feel a responsibility to ensure that children are safe and know what is acceptable and what is not, after all, our children are our future. Maybe, it is just that getting it out there will get us thinking about it and being more vigilant in our own worlds.

Schapelle Corby and 12,000 Indonesians?

VIVAnews is reporting that the Australian Attorney General has made an offer to the Indonesian Attorney General that is essence goes along these lines:

"There are 12,000 Indonesians in Australian prisons with an average sentence of five years, we will trade those 12,000 for Schapelle Corby". At least this is the understanding of Babul Khoir Harahap, the Head of the Information Center at the Office of the Attorney General in Jakarta.

According to Harahap, the Attorney General of Indonesia has agreed. The matter has now been sent to the Minister for Law and Human Rights, Patrialis Akbar, for approval. My guess is that with a clemency appeal pending that this will also cross the desk of the President, SBY.

This offer apparently was provided by Roger Wilkis of the Attorney General's Department in Australia to the Attorney General of Indonesia, Basrief Arief. Australia's Ambassador, Greg Moriarty was also in attendance at this meeting of the minds.

Corby has received 17 months worth of remissions to date and this program of remissions is likely to accelerate as she serves more of her sentence. Nevertheless, the prospect of a "swap agreement" and immediate freedom must be a positive development for Corby in her current fragile mental state.

Then again, this story could be a beat-up or a complete misrepresentation of the discussions held and any offer made. It seems outrageous that the Australian government is going to swap 12,000 Indonesians convicted of crimes in Australia for one Australian convicted of a drug-possession crime in Indonesia. This must surely weaken Australia's bargaining position for other Australian prisoners doing time in Indonesian jails. What is Australia going to offer up for the release of members of the Bali Nine or more importantly to get those Bali Nine members on death row, off of death row?

I am not against the idea, in principle of a swap, but there needs to be a whole lot more information on what the swap entails. The response from the Australian public is not necessarily going to be favourable. There are plenty of Australians who think that Schapelle Corby has done enough time for the crime she was convicted of. However, they might not be so certain that she is worth 12,000 Indonesians in order to secure that early freedom.

This is certainly an interesting development if it pans out to be true.

Schapelle Corby Gets Another 45 Days in Remissions...

The Indonesian way of administering a prison sentence in many respects provides an outcome that ends up seeing a convicted person serving about the same length of time in prison as they would in Australia.

The Australian system usually involves the imposition of a "head sentence" and then a non-parole period. For example, a person convicted of a drug crime might be sentenced to 20 years in prison with a non-parole period of 12 years. After 12 years the convicted person can begin to apply for parole. Assuming that the person has been of good behaviour and are ready to be re-integrated back into the community, they will be paroled.

In the Indonesian context a person is sentenced to a period of imprisonment and then there is a system of remissions that may see a 20-year drug sentence reduced with remissions to a period of 12 years. A remission is generally granted for good behaviour and showing signs of remorse for one's conduct that lead to the prison sentence being imposed. In most cases a convicted person will serve about two-thirds of their original sentence. In some cases a convicted person may even serve less time than that.

Remissions in Indonesia are generally granted for Indonesian Independence Day and for the religious holiday of the relevant prisoner. A prisoner of Islamic faith may get two remissions a year; one on Independence Day and one at Idul Fitri (Eid ul-Fitr). For prisoners of the Christian faith a remission may be granted on Independence Day and on Christmas Day.

Schapelle Corby has just been granted a 45-day remission on her sentence. Corby has received remissions to date that now total 18.5 months.

Corby has a clemency appeal currently being considered by the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). The Supreme Court of Indonesia was tasked with making a recommendation to the president. If the Supreme Court recommends quashing the conviction or a reduction in the sentence, then the president then decides as to whether they will endorse the Supreme Court recommendation and grant the clemency appeal or refuse to sign-off on the Supreme Court recommendation. It has been reported that the Supreme Court recommended a significant cut in Corby's sentence. Although, the Supreme Court has not officially confirmed or denied the reports.

What does this mean for Schapelle Corby? Assuming the president rejects the clemency appeal, which is being made on humanitarian grounds relating to Corby's mental illness, then it would still be likely that Corby would serve approximately four more years and then be released. However, if the president was to affirm the Supreme Court recommendation which allegedly includes a sentence reduction then Corby may in fact be released and returned to Australia sooner than that. One might need to be a psychic to predict an exact date, but generally there is an expectation that Corby will not serve two-thirds of her sentence.

Irrespective of her guilt or innocence at this stage, Corby has done more than enough time for the crime she was convicted of. Personally, I would not be outraged if the Indonesian authorities decided that she has done plenty of time, she has suffered in prison, she has been suitably punished for the crime for which she was convicted, and that there is no longer any need to keep her in prison. Yet, many wonder whether Corby's steadfast belief in her innocence and the subsequent belief that she has nothing to show remorse for is providing Indonesian authorities with the necessary reason to ensure she serves the complete sentence in an Indonesian prison.

In the end, a 45-day remission is 45 days that she does not have to serve in Kerobokan.

Have Three Prime Ministers Really Failed Schapelle Corby?

It really is hard not to have a chuckle when stories like this wend their way into the media. Admittedly, Lawyers Weekly is not the most mainstream of media, but it is a publication that shares the concerns and voices of lawyers. So, in that sense, Kerry Smith-Douglas is a lawyer, she does represent the Corby Family in Australia (as far as I can tell), and there are interesting legal issues to be discussed and debated in this case.

Unfortunately, the significant issues that need to be debated here are not whether John Howard, Kevin Rudd, and now Julia Gillard have failed Schapelle Corby. The reality that the talking head that is Kerry Smith-Douglas fails to comprehend is that there are protocols and methods to the madness that constitute international relations that do not include successive Australian Prime Ministers jumping up and down on the spot and shaking their fingers at the democratically elected president of the Republic of Indonesia saying "give us back our girl or else!"

There is nothing funny about Schapelle Corby's case nor the predicament that she finds herself in. Kerobokan Prison is not a great prison to be doing a 20-year stretch in for smuggling drugs into the sovereign state of Indonesia. However, Kerobokan is not the worst prison in Indonesia nor is it the worst prison in Asia. Nevertheless, there are many people who think she has done enough time and it is time that she came home to Australia. Yet, it would be irresponsible to suggest that all Australians are in support of Schapelle Corby's repatriation to Australia, because they are not. There are still significant numbers of people, at least anecdotally, who argue "if you do the crime, you do the time".

This post is not about the technicalities of her conviction. If you want to read those posts then search this blog using the term "Schapelle Corby". Justice in this case was served in Indonesia. The cold hard reality that some refuse to accept is that the alleged crime occurred in Indonesia, Corby was arrested in Indonesia, she was prosecuted in Indonesia and she has been jailed in Indonesia since her conviction. The case was appealed pursuant to Indonesian law and these appeals ultimately failed. The case has be subject to judicial review and this failed to alter the result. The final step in this process is an appeal for clemency, this is pending a decision by the president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).

It is a little bit weird to now start blaming this outcome on successive Australian Prime Ministers, isn't it? This case went belly-up, it was cactus, it was poisoned way before any of the past three Australian Prime Ministers could have conceivably launched a successful intervention. What remains now is some pretty solid bilateral lobbying and diplomacy. I am sure there will be those out there who want to jump in and argue that being silent has not served their cause well. Maybe this is so, but to be honest, I have not heard silence in this case since the outset. This has been a media circus from day one.

Final point, I am not going to argue that the best solution for Corby is to wait for a prisoner transfer agreement. However, that remains an option. The best bet is some form of humanitarian clemency from the Indonesian president that sees Corby's sentence slashed to time served. The most likely outcome is that she will be released having done at least 10 years of her sentence. Therefore, the clemency appeal will be successful in gaining a reduction in her sentence to about 15 years. Then with continued remissions for good behaviour, Corby will see freedom as early as 2014.

The problem here is not three successive Australian Prime Ministers failing Schapelle Corby, the problem has always been one of bad advice in the critical first few days after arrest.

I hope she is released immediately and returns to Australia as a free woman.

Ho hum...

Aburizal Bakrie: Defamed?

Has Singapore come to Indonesia? The way of the Singaporean political elite is to sue their political opposition into oblivion by abusing defamation laws. Perhaps, Aburizal Bakrie has realised that Indonesia defamation laws, both criminal and civil, allow for Indonesian politicians to do the same.

The recent reporting of an alleged meeting between Gayus Tambunan and Aburizal Bakrie in Bali during a recent tennis tournament has struck a chord with the man behind the Sidoarjo mud extrusion. Gayus was the point man on a tax avoidance racket that included a number of Bakrie companies. The racket saw tax obligations lowered and mechanisms put in place to ensure that the government lost any challenges that it made against the assessments.

The racket worked well for a while, but it has seemingly begun to come unstuck. Needless to say there are a few nervous people floating around the circles of the political elite as they wonder just how much Gayus knows and just how big the bucket of crap is that he has to spill. This is particularly so if the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) gets involved. So, it is within this framework that a meeting between Gayus and Aburizal Bakrie appears believable.

And, truth be told there would be plenty of people from all walks of life who would like to see Bakrie come unstuck and get shafted in the most figurative of senses, then again there are probably a few who wouldn't mind seeing that happen in a literal sense either!

But I digress. Aburizal Bakrie has decided that the news organisations that reported this alleged meeting have defamed him. So, he went to the press council to lodge a formal complaint. It is expected that an official complaint to police will be lodged in the near future.

The five media organisations include Kompas, SCTV, Metro TV, Detik.com, and Media Indonesia. Metro TV and Media Indonesia are an interesting choice as as they are the media vehicles of Surya Paloh. Paloh happens to have been a past challenger to Bakrie's dominance in Golkar.

It seems that Bakrie is a little upset that his denials of a meeting ever taking place were not accepted as given. Therefore, Bakrie is of the belief that because his denials were not accepted as the ultimate truth that he has been defamed because the media is guilty of character assassination. The man is on a mission to clean up the media which he believes has degenerated into outlets purveying lies and spin-doctoring the truth to turn the public against him.

It will be interesting to see where this latest crack at criminal and civil defamation laws goes.

(Photo courtesy of Antara)

Bali & HIV...

The National AIDS Commission of Indonesia has reported that one in four of some 8,000 sex workers in Bali  are HIV positive. For the percentage inclined, that is 25%. The data also shows a corresponding spike in infection rates. This is primarily being discussed as an issue of heterosexual men having unprotected sex with HIV+ sex workers and then going home to infect their partners.

Official figures record Bali as having 3,181 case of HIV infection. This figure does not includes a spike of 18.7% over the past 12 months, which sees that figure rise a further 596 cases to a total of 3,778. It is expected that if the government does not become much more pro-active in tackling HIV/AIDS through more comprehensive education and prevention strategies that this number is likely to increase.

On a somewhat scarier note, the Commission reports that it estimates that the figures represent about 15% of the 'true' number of infections. This is about where UNAIDS stands on HIV infections in Indonesia. UNAIDS estimates that there are at least 270,000 Indonesians living with HIV.

West Java, Papua and Bali seem to be the provinces most effected and affected by HIV / AIDS. To be honest, I am surprised that the number is not even higher still.

On a more positive note. The fact that more HIV cases are being reported may be indicative of more people becoming more willing to be tested and treated in the event they are positive. Also in the positive side of the equation is that there are regulations in place that prohibit discrimination against HIV+ people in the workplace. I appreciate that there is a difference between having regulations in place and enforcement. However, it must be noted that the regulations are their and people can avail themselves of the opportunity to address any discrimination that they may be exposed to in the workplace.

Hopefully, it will not be too far into the future that we will have a vaccine to prevent further infections and a cure for those already infected.

Schapelle Corby Still Doing Time...

It has been a long time since I posted something on the plight of Ms. Corby. It is not that I do not care, but rather there is a process and a course that matters like hers take. I really did not see the point in writing a post as there are more than enough people enlisted into the cause of keeping her name front and centre in newspapers and magazines around Australia.

Yet, a recent comment to an earlier Corby-related post that suggested that I was "toxic" for commenting on her case has inspired me to write a post. So, Anonymous, whoever you are, thank you! Hopefully, this post ruffles a few feathers and sees me called all manner of things. I must say to Anonymous...toxic is a little lame.

It would be hard to find an Australian who was not at least aware of the name Corby. Whether they care about that name is a different issue. Recent surveys would suggest that people reckon she has been punished enough. Then there are a sizable chunk of the population who really do not care one way or the other. Such is life!

The case is in the clemency appeal phase. This means that all ordinary avenues of legal recourse have been exhausted. What is left is an appeal to the president. The president has the authority to grant the clemency appeal or deny it. The president is on the record, consistently, stating that he will not view clemency appeals from drug convicts favourably.

The Corby clemency appeal is premised on humanitarian grounds. To all you lay people out there; she's crazy. In fact, there is little dispute that Corby has suffered mentally while incarcerated. In fact, there is little dispute that she is suffering from depression. If you are to believe the eminent shrink Dr. Jonathon Philips then she is suffering psychotic depression and it is only a matter of time before she successfully pulls the plug on her existence in Kerobokan. In contrast, if you belief the somewhat less recognised doctors treating her on a daily basis, then Corby suffers from treatable depression and she will live. The fact that she is alive is testament to the fact that her mental illness is treatable.

The Indonesian Supreme Court has recommended a significant sentence reduction to the president. It has been suggested that this reduction might even be as large as time served. This would mean if the president was to agree then Corby would be out of Kerobokan before the ink dried on the paperwork. It must be noted that the clemency appeal is not for a pardon. Corby will remain a convicted drug smuggler. The reality, despite those arguing to the contrary, is that the Indonesian way on pardons is that the convicted person needs to admit guilt and show some remorse.

Corby has steadfastly maintained her innocence, and the clemency appeal is sensible in avoiding any request for a pardon. It is important that people understand this critical difference if they are to get their collective heads around what might happen next.

Generally, a Supreme Court recommendation would be confirmed as a matter of course. But, this is no ordinary case. The importance of this case is that the presidential team responsible for assessing the clemency appeal have demanded a report from the Head of Kerobokan. This report was less than flattering. It suggested to all intents and purposes that Corby was not a model prisoner, her family was bothersome, and she was purposefully exaggerating the seriousness of her illness.

This sort of balances out the favourable views of the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, the plot thickens because the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister, Marty Natalegawa, have allegedly weighed in with a suggestion that a favourable clemency appeal decision would be beneficial to the overall Indonesian-Australian bilateral relationship. A more accurate description would be the Ministry drafted a report that would argue that an early release would be viewed favourably in Australia by ordinary Australians. The report would have been pragmatic to the n-th degree.

The likely outcome is that Corby will have her sentence reduced. It will be reduced to a point where she would have already served 2/3 of her sentence. In the Indonesian justice system, where a person has served 2/3 of their sentence they become eligible for parole / release. In the event that Corby's sentence is reduced to the 2/3 limit she might be released on the grounds that she be placed in an Indonesian psychiatric facility for a period of six months and then released / deported back to Australia.

Then again, the president, SBY, could just say "bugger that for a joke! The girl tried to smuggle 4.2kgs of wacky weed into Indonesia. Nah, she can do her time!"

The safe ground for the president is somewhere in between these two positions.

I hope she is released. I hope she gets back to Australia real soon. And, I hope that she takes the time to step out of the public eye and take the time she needs to recover from her ordeal as best she can. Life will never be the same for Corby. She cannot get the years in Kerobokan back. The smart choice would be not to cultivate the celebrity. Maybe she should look to David Hicks as an example. Get on with your life, and then at some point in the future put pen to paper and share your thoughts with those that want to know.

I wonder how many people I have annoyed with this post?

Image from here.

Commuting the Sentences of Bali Bombers...

There has been a suggestion by Indonesian prison authorities that two of the Bali Bombers should have their life sentences commuted to 20 years in prison on the basis of their good behaviour since being incarcerated. The pair, Abdul Ghoni and Sawad are unrepentant about their actions and suggest that they believe the three Bali Bombers that have been executed will be forgiven by God, if indeed their actions were wrong. There is no remorse for the killing of 202 people.

These men have not shown that they deserve to have their sentences commuted. The idea that these fellows should ever breathe air as free men again is likely to be objectionable to any one who lost family or friends in the 2002 bombings of the Sari Club and Paddy's.

However, if the Indonesian authorities see fit to commute these sentences from life to 20 years then it only seems reasonable that the authorities also see fit to commute the death sentences of Scott Rush, Myuran Sukumaran, and Andrew Chan to at the very least life in prison. Considering, the drugs these individuals were carrying were destined for Australia and were not likely to be killing any Indonesians then it makes sense that their death penalties be commuted to 20 years or so. The others should all have their respective sentences commuted or amended in similar ways.

If Ghoni or Sawad have their sentences commuted, then there is no justifiable reason that the Indonesian authorities and government could make to keep Schapelle Corby in jail for her full sentence.

It is about time that the legal reform movement also took stock of their successes to date, and mapped out a more encouraging road forward. This road must include work on sentencing and remission reform. This is not a case of "if the system ain't broke", but rather a case of the system being irreparably damaged and needing a complete reconfiguration. A simple botox job to remove the wrinkles is no longer a good enough response.

Bakwan Jagung in The New York Times...

Bakwan Jagung or Corn Fritters are one of my all time favourite Indonesian snacks. They are versatile and can go by themselves as a "between meals snack" or they can form part of a main meal. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see a write up of Indonesian style corn fritters in The New York Times. It was also good to see a recipe attached to the article, and some quotes from an Indonesian Executive Chef, Djoko Supatmono, at the Satay Junction in Manhattan, New York.

I still eat bakwan jagung here in Australia. My wife is an excellent cook, and it helps that bakwan jagung is one of her favourites as well. My preferred accompaniments are sweet soy sauce with chopped chillies as a dipping sauce or sambal mentah (raw sambal - ground up chillies, garlic, pepper), or sambal Bali (I am not a connoisseur on that front, but my mother-in-law had the sambal Bali down pat). We are spoilt for fresh corn in this part of the world, and fresh corn is always the best way to go when making bakwan jagung.

It should not be too long before the Malaysians start trying to claim that they are the inventors of the Bakwan Jagung and that Indonesia stole it from them. Malaysia seems to want to claim all manner of Indonesian things from textiles to music, so food would seemingly not be such a big stretch. If Malaysia does not step forward to make a claim, then Singapore probably will.

Five-Month Remission on the Cards for Schapelle Corby...

Prisoners in Indonesian prisons normally receive remissions twice a year, if they are lucky, on Independence Day and the prisoners relevant religious holiday (in this instance Christmas). Indonesian Independence Day is 17 August.

It is expected that Schapelle will be granted a 5-month remission on her sentence. The head of Kerobokan Prison, Siswanto, has said that he has sent his recommendations to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights stating that Ms. Corby has been well-behaved and has not violated any prison rules. It is usual practice that the Ministry rubber stamps the recommendations of the heads of the prisons making the recommendations.

In other words, it would seem that Ms. Corby will be five months closer to freedom within days. If her clemency appeal is successful, then it is likely that she will be significantly closer to freedom still.

To read the Indonesian take on the proposed Corby remission follow this link.

Schapelle Corby and Public Support in Australia...

This is but a short comment, perhaps some opinion infused, on what the latest survey figures say about support in Australia for Schapelle Corby.

Schapelle Corby is an Australian and a convicted drug smuggler. She is doing 20 years in Kerobokan Prison in Bali, Indonesia, for the crime she have been convicted of.

Her appeals have been up and down over the years. The final appeal reaffirming her 20-year sentence.

The intervening six years have been hard on her, and her family and supporters, but mostly they have been hard on her. Nevertheless, prison anywhere is no easy gig, it is not summer camp. The time will affect you. Schapelle Corby, if Dr. Philips (an eminent psychologist) is right, then hope for a full recovery from the psychotic depression that Schapelle Corby suffers from is unlikely. It is likely that she will get better once out of jail and consistently medicated, presumably in Australia.

Yet, it must also be noted that Dr. Philips stated unequivocally that she would be dead in months if she was not immediately repatriated to Australia for treatment. Time has shown this not to be the case. Schapelle is alive, being treated / medicated and surviving.

The mental illness that she suffers from presently is the basis for a clemency appeal on humanitarian grounds. The Supreme Court has considered this and sent it to the President for final determination. There is some conjecture about what might happen next. It appears from sources that a significant reduction in the 20-year sentence has been suggested (all off the record discussions). This reduction is not likely to be an immediate release, but would see Schapelle Corby released before seeing out half of the original sentence.

Now, onto the survey. Australian news organisations are reporting the results of a recent survey that 1 in 3 Australians think that Corby should be released from Kerobokan. It is worth pointing out that this equates to a mere 33% of Australians. By my reckoning, there is hardly widespread support for a release. This should embolden the Indonesian authorities to reduce the sentence but to not immediately release her. Quite simply, reducing the sentence but not releasing her is unlikely to create any sustained backlash or negative press for the Indonesians.

Even more startling is that the survey notes that only 1 in 10 Australians think she is innocent. This means that for those that want to see her released it is a simple case of "Schapelle has done more than enough time for the crime". In other words, guilty or innocent is no longer relevant, what matters is that she is released. She has been too harshly punished in proportion to the crime she has been convicted of.

The survey is a Nielson poll and interviewed 1400 people.

Rabies in Bali...

Rabies is a problem in Bali, and it has been for a while. The government has never really been pro-active in controlling and eradicating rabies. The government has tended to be more reactive, and now that foreign governments are starting to issue travel warnings or advice that suggests the rabies epidemic is serious enough that people need to take extra precautions or not travel to Bali has seen the government ratchet up efforts to get on top of the spread of rabies.

The past two years have seen an explosion in numbers of dog bites and human deaths from rabies infections. There have been some 34,000 reported dog bites this year. The past two years has seen 76 recorded deaths from rabies.

The government plan calls for all dogs to be vaccinated by the end of the year. This is presumably dogs that are seemingly owned by someone. The reality is that strays are likely to be destroyed. The authorities in Bali estimate that there are still hundreds of thousands of dogs to be vaccinated. That is a lot of dogs and a lot of potential rabies cases, especially when one considers that since 2008 somewhere in the vicinity of 300,000 dogs have been vaccinated, and tens of thousands destroyed.

There is an article in The Jakarta Globe about the issue. The following little extract caught my eye enough that I have cut and pasted it into this post:


"Unlike the rest of mainly Muslim Indonesia, where people do not generally keep dogs, Bali is a predominantly Hindu island and dogs are common either as pets or strays."

I am guessing that this is a statement of fact based on the idea that dogs are less acceptable under Islam than they are in Hindu beliefs. I only note it because I saw more dogs in other places outside of Bali than I did in Bali, so on in an anecdotal sense this did not ring true to me, personally. Besides, I am not sure that the reference to religious beliefs adds anything to the gravitas of the story itself.

But, dogs are not the only animals that carry rabies, are they?

Oh well

Is It Safe For Australians to Travel to Bali?

If you have read the latest travel advice from the Australian Government available at Smart Traveller, then you would be having serious considerations about wanting to travel to Indonesia, and more specifically Bali.

According to the advice, rabies is a real threat to Australian travellers. Also, a violent feud between rival taxi companies has also escalated to a point where the Australian authorities consider there to be real risks to Australian holiday makers on the island of Bali. These two issues are additions to the standard fare about the ever-present threat of terrorism and natural disasters.

So, the question is: "Should Australians travel to Indonesia, and particularly Bali, in light of the travel advice?" Yes. If you want to go to Bali then you should not be deterred by the issuance of this travel advisory. Travel, like any other human activity, comes with risks and rewards. The simple equation you have is as a traveller is to balance those risks and rewards and make an informed decision on whether to go or not.

Travel to Indonesia is really about being aware of your own personal safety and surrounds. If you are a little bit more conscious of not placing yourself in dangerous situations then you are unlikely to be harmed. The chances of one being killed in a terrorist attack are small. If you are worried about dying, then have a look at statistics for what kills people while they travel and my guess is that you will find rabies and violent taxi feuds rank pretty low on the scale of misadventure. It is not being argued that it is impossible, but it is being argued that the risks are negligible if you use your brains.

That is the rant for today.

Press Freedom and The Dangers to Journalists...

A free press is often seen as a hallmark of a mature democracy. The simple idea being that a free press in some way ensures that there is accountability and the culture of impunity and immunity is whittled away. However, a free press does not always guarantee the safety of those who wish to expose the excesses of some members of the community through their activism or their reporting. Indonesia has seen three journalists killed since February 2009. The latest, Ardiansyah Matra'is was pulled from a river in West Papua. Matra'is was naked and handcuffed.

Stop killing journalists!

Matra'is prior to his death was a reporter for Merauke TV. Matra'is death is also the culmination of a series of threats SMS-ed to journalists warning them that "if they played with fire they would be sure to get burned" and that they should be 'prepared for death'.

Matra'is' death follows the mysterious death of a Kompas journalist, Muhammad Syaifullah, in Kalimantan. The police have been quick to dismiss foul play, which suggests that the case theory as far as the police are concerned is that this was a suicide. Syaifullah had been reporting on the ongoing raping and pillaging of Indonesia's natural forests and resources by big mining companies.

These two deaths follow the death of Anak Agung Prabangsa of Radar Bali in February 2009. Prabangsa had also been the subject of threats after exposing irregularities in the building of an international standard primary school in Bangli, Bali.

It is time that the free press that is claimed to exist in Indonesia became free. The first step is to ensure that journalists can do their jobs in an environment where they are free from terror and threats of death and, in at least 3 cases in the last 18 months, death.

Schapelle Corby's Sentence to be Reduced?

It has been a while since a Schapelle Corby (photo courtesy of AAP) related post. So, now would seem an appropriate time to make one, particularly considering that there is a very solid likelihood that a large sentence reduction is on the cards. How large remains to be seen, but the Jakarta rumour mill is working overtime, and all indications are that it will be significant.

To be truthful, no one is commenting publicly on this that would be quotable in a verifiable sense. And, stranger things have happened with sentence cuts and other remissions that seemed destined to happen. So, fingers crossed for Ms. Corby and her family that this is something that comes to fruition.

Schapelle Corby lodged a clemency appeal to get herself released on humanitarian grounds. There were fairly solid grounds for the appeal. It is clear that the prison years since 2004 have taken their toll mentally and physically. She is definitely never going to be the same, but one never knows, she might get some semblance of normalcy back to her life on release. The Indonesians have acknowledged her depression and have treated it. The family and other supporters have claimed for a long period of time that Schapelle's mental illness is significantly more serious than 'mere' depression and that she needs to be repatriated to Australia and treated here.

It would seem that the Indonesian Supreme Court has been swayed by the petition and has supposedly recommended to the president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, that a significant sentence reduction be granted. The ultimate decision on clemency petitions rests with the president. However, it is uncommon for the president to go against the recommendation of the Supreme Court in a case like this. Nevertheless, it would seem unlikely that it would be reduced to time served with an immediate release to follow. However, it is worth noting that this is not outside the realm of possibility.

The Indonesians have clearly made their point on the seriousness of drugs and drug smuggling, and an immediate release would be seen as a good will gesture by most. There will still be those that argue she should never have been in Kerobokan in the first place, but that is probably a hypothetical argument for later because what has been done cannot be undone.

And, for these people the continued bashing of Indonesia as a backward barbarian third world nation lacking compassion will go on unabated. It might be worth considering what the priorities are here; seeing Schapelle free or bashing Indonesia, and determining how best to go forward with any media campaign associated with Schapelle Corby's release from prison.

Another possibility is that the original 20-year sentence will be cut in half. And, with expected remissions to be granted in August and December for Indonesian Independence Day and Christmas respectively, it is possible that Corby will be free towards the end of this year or very early next year.

Good luck to her. It would seem that her desire to have a child as a free woman is coming that much closer to becoming a reality.

Indonesia's Pornography Law & Full-Frontal Nudity...

I wonder...

Does this image of a nude sculpture violate the provisions of the Indonesian Pornography Law?

What about this photo of Aline Tumbuan?

Or this one of a woman in / from Bali?

Or this one of Syahrini (Isn't that KD former husband sitting next to Syahrini)?

Bali, Drugs, and Australians...

When will Australians learn that carrying drugs in Indonesia is a serious criminal offense? The odds are such that it really is only a matter of time, sooner or later you will get caught out. The penalties that attach to drug offenses reflect the seriousness that Indonesian law enforcement view this issue. If one has any doubts, then have a look at the Schapelle Corby case or those of the Bali Nine. Or, if you are more interested in seeing how you can do as little time as possible for indulging in your excesses, then have a look at the Michele Leslie (or Lee) or Robert McJannett cases (McJannett has indicated that he is petitioning for bankruptcy as his freedom, after a short jail stint, cost him AUD 71,000+).

An Australian, Angus McCaskill, was arrested in the Tuban district in Bali with five packets of cocaine in his possession.

The police have not said whether MCaskill was dealing or whether the cocaine was for personal consumption (red: addiction). This determination will be important in determining how much jail time McCaskill is likely to do. Having not seen the fact sheet it is difficult to say which way his legal representatives should go, but my guess is that if a guilty plea is the option chosen then this will be accompanied by relevant supporting documents to suggest that the fellow is an addict and the drugs were for personal consumption.

This would fall within the gambit of a Supreme Court Circular which directs District Courts to sentence offenders to rehabilitation type facilities or to shorter jail terms where the offenders can get the rehabilitation treatment that they need to be re-integrated into the broader community.