Pubdate: Fri, 20 May 2005
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2005 Southam Inc.
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Author: Anne Marie Owens, National Post
Cited: internet websites: http://www.schapelle.com/
http://schapellecorby.com.au/ http://www.dontshootschapelle.com/
http://www.baliboycott.com/ http://www.freeschapelle.com/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schapelle+Corby
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

DRUG SMUGGLING TRIAL GRIPS AUSTRALIANS

Interest Hits Fever Pitch As Verdict Expected Next Week in Indonesia

AUSTRALIA - She has long been the water-cooler topic du jour here, her
plight the focus of everyone from Australia's highest politicians to the
humblest labourers, but last night Schapelle Corby was finally afforded the
kind of treatment for which her case seems tailor-made.

In the manner of the top-rated Australian Idol and Dancing with the Stars,
the young woman accused of smuggling drugs into Bali was the subject of a
reality-TV-style show, which assembled a studio audience to vote on whether
she was innocent or guilty, then tallied up the votes of callers watching
across the country.

It was just the latest bizarre twist in a case that has gripped Australia
in a way that seems more reality-TV than real.

And while the "randomly selected" studio audience voted overwhelmingly,
91%, for Ms. Corby's innocence, the reality of her situation will only hit
home when a panel of Indonesian judges renders a verdict next week.

The 27-year-old from Queensland's Gold Coast was charged with drug
trafficking after Indonesian customs officials discovered 4.1 kilograms of
marijuana in her body-surfboard bag. She maintains her innocence and says
her only crime was not putting locks on her bag to protect it from tampering.

Prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment, although there is the remote
possibility the judges could sentence her to be executed by firing squad.

The inherent drama of the situation has not been lost on the Australian
public, which has made this case, and its repercussions, a national obsession.

The story has spawned T-shirts, hats and a wide range of Free
Schapelle-themed paraphernalia; her case has been the focus of impassioned
discussions by thousands in Internet forums, radio call-in shows, and at
local pubs and clubs. On the Internet alone, there are sites called Free
Schapelle, Don't Shoot Schapelle and the Schapelle Corby Support Site.

Supporters range from a man planning to launch a remixed version of the
Beatles' Let It Be as a fundraiser, to a travel agent who says he will
never send another client to Bali if Ms. Corby is found guilty, to Aussie
actor Russell Crowe, who used his appearance on a talk show recently to
decry the government's lack of action on the case.

For a nation accustomed to seeing its reality-TV stars bare their souls for
the cameras, Ms. Corby is ideal: She is a long-haired attractive surfer,
with a perpetual little-girl-lost demeanour in interviews. She is seen
either as a happy-go-lucky woman jolted from the reality of working in her
mother's takeaway fish and chip shop or as a skittish young woman
ill-equipped to handle the harsh rigours of the Indonesian prison system.

Her emotional outbursts have made for riveting media coverage: She
collapsed en route to the court hearing during the trial; she broke down in
tears on the stand one day, sobbing she did not know how long she could
cope with the stress of her imprisonment; and she delivered a rousing plea
for mercy to the judges on the final day of submissions.

"My life at the moment is in your hands, but I'd prefer it if my life was
in your hearts," she said, her voice breaking, in a brief, tearful address
that has been played over and over again on television and radio shows
dedicated to the story.

Her plea to her own Prime Minister, John Howard, was similarly impassioned:
"Mr. Howard, as a father and as a leader, I plead for your help. I did not
do this. I beg for justice."

On last night's reality-TV special, Schapelle's Nightmare: The Untold
Story, journalist Liz Hayes, who interviewed Ms. Corby in jail late last
year, said there's no doubt the young woman's looks and raw emotions have
bolstered support for her at home.

"Schapelle Corby is displaying real tears and real fears," she said.

"She is wearing her emotions on her sleeve.... The reality is there are
many Australians in Bali jails and we have never heard of them, and will
never hear of them."

Regardless of the outcome of next week's judgment in Bali, it is unlikely
to be the last that Australia hears of Schapelle Corby.