Asia:
Indonesian
Protestors
Call
for
Corby's
Execution
While
Australians
Call
for
Bali
Boycott
6/10/05
The case of Schapelle Corby, the 27-year-old Australian woman sentenced to 20 years in an Indonesian prison May 27 after being convicted of smuggling nine pounds of marijuana into the resort island of Bali, continues to roil relations between the two countries. While Corby and her attorneys take the first steps toward appealing her conviction and sentence, some outraged Australians are calling for a boycott of Bali -- a popular destination for young Australians -- while others have engaged in vandalism and a June 1 fake anthrax attack on the Indonesian embassy in Canberra. In Indonesia, meanwhile, anti-drug fundamentalists marched Sunday in Jakarta to call for Corby's execution.
The turmoil over the Corby case is playing into preexisting strains between the two neighbors, with Australian criticism of the Indonesians sometimes bordering on the xenophobic, if not the downright racist, while in Indonesia, Muslim extremists linked to Al Qaeda last week threatened new bomb attacks in Jakarta on Westerners in general and Australians in particular. A Muslim extremist bombing in Bali in October 2002 killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. While two of the actual bombers in that attack were sentenced to death, the intellectual author of the attacks, cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, was sentenced to only 2 ½ years in prison for conspiracy in March, a sentence often contrasted with Corby's by her supporters. "How they can give the guy who masterminded the Bali bombings two years jail and give Schapelle what is effectively a life sentence is beyond belief and a disgrace to most Australians, said ex-Corby boyfriend Shannon McLure. "Australia is a big-hearted country and we gave Indonesia a billion dollars after the tsunami. They should give us something in return. They should give us back Schapelle," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. According to Australian press reports, talk show callers, newspaper columnists, and radio ranters alike have echoed McLure's words and anger toward the Indonesians. "If I could get the money I gave to the tsunami appeal back, I would," said one talk show caller who identified himself as John, from the Sydney suburb of Maroubra. "I will never, ever travel to Bali again in fear that this could even happen to me or any of my family," said another talk show caller. That is exactly what some Australians and Corby supporters around the world would like to see happen. Vows to boycott and calls for an organized boycott have come not only from outraged Australians but also from some Australian travel agents. About 180,000 Australians annually visit Bali and make up the major part of its tourism trade. That has Bali worried. This week, while the Bali Tourism Board claimed no have seen no impact from boycott calls, it was worried enough to appeal to Australian travel agents to ignore boycott calls. "The Balinese tourism industry has only just turned the corner in recent times. We urge calm in this situation. Bali is a beautiful destination. We continue to welcome Australians warmly and hope that the Corby case will have no impact on Australians' desire to visit our beautiful island and continue to preserve the livelihood of our Balinese people."
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