CORBY IGNITES US TV DEBATE

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

One panellist, Joy Behar, branded Bali's drug laws "crazy" and
supported the campaign to boycott Bali as a tourist
destination.

"So the Australians are right," Behar told an audience of several
million viewers.

"Don't travel to Bali because their laws are crazy."

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

The Corby case was one of the topics debated by the show's five
panellists.

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,"
Jones Reynolds said.

"You go and visit somebody else's country, then you have to adhere to
their laws." AdvertisementAdvertisement

Jones Reynolds' comment heated up the debate.

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

"That's why you have a trial," Jones Reynolds answered.

"They had the trial. The court rejected their argument."

Jones Reynolds' remarks fired up another panellist, 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," Jones
Reynolds said.

"The way they do things in their country is completely
different."

That's when Behar commented: "So the Australians are right. Don't
travel to Bali because their laws are crazy."

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.

"So in that sense, if we are going to call on the international
community, we are going to have to practice what we preach," Walters
said.