Wow, I’m still a little bit in shock by this story. I just watched Ganja Queen, a documentary about a 27-year-old Australian woman named Schapelle Corby and the highly sensationalized drug smuggling case that landed her in a Balinese prison for 20 years.

In October 2004,  Corby travelled to Bali for her sister’s birthday.  To her and everyones surprise, Balinese custom agents found 10 pounds of marijuana in her boogie board bag upon her arrival. It’s a pretty well-known fact that the penalty for smuggling drugs in Indonesia is extreme - death by firing squad or life in prison- so the outcome for Corby was not promising despite her passionate pleas of innocence.

The film takes you through the story from the very beginning, introduces you to some of the odd characters involved, and ultimately leads you through the circus of the trial. It’s scary to think how little control you have when being prosecuted in unfamiliar, international territory.  One’s fate can be destroyed by little to no evidence or proof of a crime. 

So was Corby a victim of injustice? It seems so. In fact, whether she’s ultimately guilty (I don’t believe she is), or innocent the punishment is extremely harsh, and in my opinion, does not fit the crime. But then again, every country is entitled to establishing their own rules, and it’s widely known that drug smuggling is a highly intolerable offense in Indonesia. 

If you have some time, I suggest you check out the documentary. I’m now entirely obsessed with learning more about this story and have been reading about it all night!