By Crikey reporter Michael Newhouse:

In case you missed it yesterday, the Fin Review’s
outstanding Indonesia correspondent Andrew Burrell wrote one of the
most direct and compelling pieces of analysis of Indonesia’s allegedly
corrupt legal system we’ve seen so far. The Fin isn’t available online but in part here’s what he said:

“Adelaide-born Michelle Leslie’s arrest at the weekend is
the latest in a series of cases that has focused Australia’s attention
on Indonesia’s legal system like never before. This interest began in
2003 with the Bali bombing cases and continued with the trial of
radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, before reaching a frenzy in May over
the 20-year prison term dished out to drug smuggler Schapelle Corby…

“Yet
despite the blanket coverage of these cases in Australia there has been
little or no corresponding rise in the understanding of Indonesia or
its legal system. That’s because public discourse has too often been
reduced to half-baked tabloid outrage, political posturing and
xenophobic screeching…

“Fuelled by shock jocks and banner
headlines, the popular consensus in Australia seems to be that
Indonesia is soft on its home-grown Islamic extremists but savage in
its treatment of innocent young Aussie holidaymakers.”

Burrell
goes on to point out that it’s rarely acknowledged that Abu Bakar
Bashir “probably should not be serving any time at all, given the
evidence used against him in court to secure a conviction was
extraordinarily weak.”

He also claims that “Bashir was neither
the ‘mastermind’ not the ‘ringleader’ of the bali bombings, as he is
often referred to in media reports” and “terrorism analysts agree that
Bashir actually knew little or nothing about the Bali plot.”

So
could Burrell be right in claiming that virtually everything we’ve come
to understand about Indonesian law is based on myths and misconceptions
generated by the media? Deakin University’s Indonesian expert, Damien
Kingsbury told Crikey that talk-back radio shows, relying on prejudices
and stereotypes, have peddled “drivel” about Indonesia, as have the
tabloids.

“The classic commercial shock jock style
programs have been pretty appalling… (and) it reflects a profoundly
bad sense of bigotry and ignorance,” Kingsbury said, referring to 2GB’s
Malcolm Elliott who famously described Indonesians as monkeys and said
it was time they descended from their trees.

Head of
Indonesian studies at Melbourne University, Arief Budiman, said the
main reason for the Australian media’s ignorance and lack of respect
lay in the assumption that the system is unfair because Indonesia
doesn’t use juries to decide cases. “There is a bias in Australia
because they think Indonesia is an underdeveloped country.”