Monday 10 February 2014

A timely comparison

I have become increasingly cynical of late.  The world made me do it, I have not chosen to be overtaken by the horror, but the horror is there.

It has become necessary to compare two people... Schapelle Corby and Renae Lawrence

Schapelle Corby http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schapelle_Corby and Renae Lawrence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renae_Lawrence are the same age, both were born in 1977 making them only a few years younger than me.  Both of them are Australian citizens.  Both of these young women were arrested in 2005 in Indonesia for drug trafficking.

Schapelle got caught taking drugs into Indonesia, Renae was caught taking drugs out.  Schapelle it was Marijuana, Renae heroin.

Now, I would have assumed that Indonesia would want to crack down more on someone bringing drugs into the country right?  Schapelle was screwed right?

When the two arrests happened the publicity was completely different.  Schapelle was made out to be a victim, the media believed her story that someone placed the drugs in her bags.  The media was full of sob stories and cries to let Schapelle go!  Renae was made out to be a fool who smuggled drugs and got caught, she (with the Bali 9 the others who got caught) was seen as a victim of the system, but a guilty drug trafficker.

Both women were convicted and sentenced to 20 years prison.

Now nine years later Schapelle is free, and all reports imply or state that she was freed because of the publicity from Australia, that she was freed because Australians have put increasing pressure on the government of Indonesia.  On the other hand Renae will be in prison until 2025.  Incidentally, Schapelle has been offered a lot of money for interviews, one can assume she is waiting for someone to offer enough.

So, why the discrepancy between the treatment of the two women?  I remember at the time wondering why the Bali 9 were not being treated the same as Corby, why the cries of innocence and "let them go" were not all over the press.  Well, I didn't wonder that hard, I kinda knew and even now 9 years later I still know.  You see, Schapelle is pretty, blue eyed and cries well on camera.  She makes a good "poor baby" media darling.  Renae on the other hand, is gay.

There is no other reason for the discrepancy.  So remember, if you plan to get caught with drugs in a foreign country and want the media to put pressure on the third world country you smuggled drugs into, make sure you are pretty, blue-eyed and above all STRAIGHT.

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