editorial comment Indonesia, a legal system nicer to terrorists than to drug mules.

Convicted Australian drug smuggler Schapelle Corby's appeal trial has opened on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali Wednesday amid chaotic scenes.

Corby, who in May this year was sentenced to 20 years in jail for smuggling 4.1 kilograms (9 pounds) of marijuana into Bali, was mobbed by scores of media as she was escorted by Indonesian police to the Denpasar District Court.

Corby has maintained strongly that the drugs found in her luggage were not hers and may have been placed there by Australian airport staff.

Corby's lawyer is expected to ask the court for an immediate adjournment of the appeal hearing to allow more time to track down witnesses and evidence to support her appeal.

So far only one witness -- an Indonesian legal professor -- is scheduled to take the stand in the reopened case.

Defense lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea says he has a witness able to back up Corby's claims, but that person will not testify without a guarantee of immunity from prosecution by the Australian government.

Canberra so far has been reluctant to offer such a deal, despite strong public support in Australia for the 27-year-old Corby's plight. (Full story)

Without fresh witnesses it seem unlikely the appeal court would be able to overturn the conviction.

Legal experts say that to overturn the conviction, Corby's defense will have to provide hard evidence Australian airport luggage handlers put the cannabis into the bag without her knowledge.

Hutapea earlier said the defense team would present a news report on drug smuggling and an essay written by an Australian policeman about Sydney airport.

He said he hoped the High Court would reach its decision by the end of August.

The Australian government has sent two senior lawyers to help Corby's appeal, and has said it wants to negotiate with Jakarta on a prisoner transfer agreement that may allow Corby to serve her sentence in Australia.

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