Corby wins Lindy Chamberlain's support

17:00 AEST Mon Jun 6 2005

Lindy Chamberlain has written to Schapelle Corby, telling the convicted drug smuggler "my heart bleeds for you".

Corby, 27, was sentenced to 20 years' jail after being found guilty last month of smuggling 4.1kg of cannabis into Bali.

Lawyers for the former Gold Coast beauty school student are appealing the conviction and sentence given by a Balinese court.

Her case has been likened to that of Mrs Chamberlain-Creighton, who was jailed for life in 1982 over the death of her daughter, Azaria.

She spent three-and-a-half years behind bars, despite arguing her baby had been taken by a dingo while the family was camping at Uluru in 1980.

Chamberlain-Creighton was freed in 1986 and officially pardoned in 1987. Her conviction was quashed the following year.

"Being set up by others to look or be guilty is a major kick in the gut...," Chamberlain-Creighton said in the letter.

"Seeing your verdict and reaction to it made me feel like I had been kicked all over again, my heart bleeds for you."

She said Corby needed to "hear the truth and the facts, no matter how hard it is, how you face your ordeal is up to you, you can choose to be a victim."

She also said suicide was a "coward's way out" and she encouraged Corby to keep up her belief in God.

"God is your only judge, never lose your faith in God, yourself or the good people who really care about you."

She also advised Corby to use the lawyers made available to her by the federal government and to "keep quiet" so she wouldn't ruin her chances of a release.

Chamberlain-Creighton also said the media attention would eventually die down.

"The public will get over its frenzy and you will soon settle into a lonely and boring routine with self-doubt and questions of 'why?' that will plague you," Chamberlain-Creighton said.

In a separate letter, which she addressed to Australia, she warned the public against judging Indonesia and its legal system.

"It is important we all understand the rules of Indonesian law and help Schapelle uphold them, she has to prove her innocence to an Indonesian court - not you - by law."

A fiery debate erupted on a popular US TV talk show on Tuesday when a panel of celebrities, including veteran journalist Barbara Walters, discussed the Schapelle Corby drug case.

One panelist, Joy Behar, branded Bali's drug laws "crazy" and supported the campaign to boycott Bali as a tourist destination. Behar told an audience of several million viewers "So the Australians are right, don't travel to Bali because their laws are crazy."

The heated discussion came on one of America's top-rating morning television talk show's, The View.

Star Jones Reynolds, a former New York prosecutor, showed the least compassion for Corby, sentenced last week to 20 years in a Bali jail for smuggling marijuana. "You come to this country (US), you reap the benefits of our laws, you go and visit somebody else's country, then you have to adhere to their laws."

Jones Reynolds' comment heated up the debate.

"But what if that was put in her luggage?" Behar, a well-known US comedienne, asked.

Jones Reynolds answered "That's why you have a trial, they had the trial and the court rejected their argument."

Jones Reynolds' remarks fired up another panelist, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who commented: "But they didn't even fingerprint the bag of drugs."

Jones Reynolds responded by saying US authorities might fingerprint evidence, but authorities from other countries might not. "That's the way we do things in the United States of America, the way they do things in their country is completely different."

Walters, the 71-year-old matriarch of American news, said she spoke with a US drug enforcement officer about the case.

The officer told her if Corby smuggled that amount of marijuana into the US she would have only faced a minor charge.

Walters also said if the US was going to protest incidents in other countries, such as the Corby sentence in Indonesia, the US should not be so sensitive when other countries protest against incidents involving the US, such as the detention of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay.