The Schapelle Corby case has attracted a mountain of media attention, though there is an element to this that is not revealed by the media who seem to run on hysteria and emotion.
It is my feeling that Schapelle Corby is innocent and that undoubtedly the trial was totally unjust. Like the vast majority of Australians, I sympathize with her anguish and no one should be treated the way she has. The handling of the initial discovery was poor, leaving very little chance for a fair trial.
Though, there is an element to the media coverage that is disturbing and it demonstrates Australia’s xenophobic attitudes. The case has received so much media coverage, what makes her case so different? She is a pretty young white girl. There have been so many cases just like this that have been barely mentioned in the media. There have been numerous cases which involved Asian-Australians being arrested for drug related charged We have a firm belief in her innocence and we are all outraged at the injustices. But there are so many injustices everyday the people fail to see because they aren’t happening to Australians. Take the refugee situation, they are placed in detention for doing nothing, but Australians refuse to believe their own system is at fault. But when a decision happens against an Australian in a foreign court it is automatically an injustice. It is the xenophobic attitudes bred in the wake of the Tampa incident that is so worrying.
Schapelle is innocent, the Indonesian system has it’s many faults and the government has been too gutless to use it’s influence to do anything but this injustice is not the only one in the world. Australian’s are not the only victims of injustice, and we need to fight for other people too.
