Bali Nine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
 |
This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. |
The Bali Nine are nine Australian citizens who were arrested in Denpasar on the island of Bali, in Indonesia, on 17 April 2005. They are accused of involvement in a plan to smuggle 8.3 kg of heroin valued at AUD$4 million from Indonesia to Australia. If convicted of drug trafficking they could receive the death penalty. The case follows the high profile trial of another Australian, Schapelle Corby, convicted on May 27, 2005 and serving 20 years imprisonment for importation of 4.1 kg of marijuana from Australia into Indonesia. Similarly, Michelle Leslie, an Australian model, faces 15 years for drug related charges.
Contents |
Arrests
Five of the nine were arrested at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport. Andrew Chan, 21, who is accused of being the organiser of the plan, was removed from a commercial flight about to depart for Australia. Four others, Michael Czugaj and Scott Rush, both 19, Martin Stephens, 29, and Renae Lawrence, 27, were arrested in the airport terminal, and were all allegedly carrying quantities of heroin in plastic bags strapped to their bodies. Between them they were alleged to be carrying more than 10 kilograms of heroin.
Four more Australians, Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, 27, Myuran Sukumaran, 24, Si Yi Chen, 20, and Matthew Norman, 18, were arrested at a Denpasar hotel. They were allegedly in possession of small quantities of heroin and other items indicating involvement in the plan to transport the heroin to Australia.
It is alleged by Indonesian police that Chan recruited the other eight to act as "drug mules" - couriers who would not arouse suspicion while carrying heroin to Australia - and offered them A$10,000 to A$15,000 each to carry out this task. All nine strongly deny the charges, but the Indonesian police have released videos showing the heroin being removed from the bodies of the four arrested at the airport. Chan was carrying no drugs.
Indonesian lawyers engaged by the families of those arrested appeared in media interviews to concede that the four arrested at the airport were acting as drug couriers. Anggir Browne was quoted as saying "They are only couriers - they did it just for money." She said they were from low-income families, and did not know that drug trafficking in Indonesia carries the death penalty.
Indonesian law does not require that arrested people be immediately charged with an offense, and by 22 April no charges had been laid. Indonesian police indicated that the five arrested at the airport would be charged with drug trafficking, which carries the death penalty, while those arrested in the hotel would be charged with the lesser offence of drug possession, which carries a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment.
On 27 April, however, the head of the Bali police drug squad, Colonel Bambang Sugiarto, said that Police would seek to have all nine charged with offenses which carry the death penalty. He revealed that several of the nine had previously visited Bali using false passports, suggesting that they had acted as drug couriers before.
Indonesian police initially maintained that Chan was the "mastermind" of the importation plan. "They were following Chan's instructions and if they didn't follow the instructions their families would be killed," Sugiarto said. By 26 April, however, media speculation suggested that Sukumaran was the main organiser of the drug courier operation.
Australian police said that they believed that an Australian drug syndicate was behind the plan. The international operations chief of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Mike Phelan, said "This is obviously some sort of sophisticated syndicate. In excess of 10 kg of heroin is a large amount and by definition it requires a distribution network here in Australia."
Some commentators suggested that the very obvious way in which the four alleged couriers were carrying the heroin meant that they must have had accomplices at Sydney Airport, since they could not have expected to escape detection in a routine customs search.
Criticisms of Australian Federal Police tipoff
Some Australians criticised the AFP for allowing the Indonesian police to arrest the nine, rather than allowing them to fly to Australia and arresting them in Sydney. Terry O'Gorman, president of the Australian Council of Civil Liberties, said that that Australian police had unnecessarily exposed the nine to the possibility of the death penalty. "This is despite the fact that the AFP was the primary investigator and that the end point for the alleged crime was Australia," he said. "It is unexplained why the AFP agreed to hand the case over to the Indonesians with such potentially grave consequences for those arrested."
But the federal Justice Minister, Senator Chris Ellison, defended the AFP's actions. "What we have are serious allegations as to criminal activity which allegedly occurred on Indonesian soil and the Indonesian police acted accordingly," he said. "We would expect the same of Australian police if the situation was reversed." The AFP will not testify against the Bali Nine if the prosecution intends to pursue a death penalty, however Colonel Bambang Sugiarto, the chief of the Bali police drug squad says: "No problem ... their statements are not important according to the law,". The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, said that Australia was opposed to the use of the death penalty and would request clemency for the nine if they were convicted. Philip Ruddock said: "We will not provide co-operation in relation to criminal matters unless there is an assurance that a death penalty will not be sought.
"If there was further information that had to be obtained from here through the Australian Federal Police, we would seek an assurance that Indonesia would not be wanting a death penalty in each of those cases," [1]
Scott Rush and Renae Lawrence have both began legal proceedings in Australia against the Australian Federal Police.
Prosecution
The investigation into the offences closed mid-August 2005 and the cases were handed to prosecutors in Denpasar. The prosecution intends to ask for the death penalty for all nine if convicted. Trials commenced on the 11th October 2005. [2]
The accused
Andrew Chan
Chan is a 21 year old from Sydney, New South Wales and was arrested on an Australian Airlines plane at Denpasar airport with three mobile phones. No drugs were located. Chan had made a prior visit to Bali on October 16 2004.
Si Yi Chen
Chen is a 20 year old from Doonside, New South Wales and was allegedly discovered in the Melasti bungalows on Bali's Kuta Beach with several mobile phones and heroin. His parents were unaware he was in Indonesia at the time of his arrest.
Michael Czugaj
Czugaj is a 19 year old from Brisbane, Queensland and was allegedly discovered with heroin weighing almost 1 kg concealed on his body at Denpasar airport during his first trip to Bali.
Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen
Nguyen is a 27 year old from Brisbane, Queensland and was allegedly discovered in the Melasti bungalows on Bali's Kuta Beach with several mobile phones and heroin.
Matthew Norman
Norman is an 18 year old from Quakers Hill, New South Wales and was allegedly discovered in the Melasti bungalows on Bali's Kuta Beach with Sukumaran, Chen and Nguyen. Norman had made two prior visits in December 2004 and January 2005.
Renae Lawrence
Lawrence is a 28 year old from Newcastle, New South Wales and is the only female among the nine arrested. Lawrence was allegedly discovered with heroin weighing 2.689 kg concealed on her body at Denpasar airport, and had made two prior visits to Bali on October 16, 2004 and November 5, 2004. Lawrence is reported to have attempted suicide twice since her imprisonment in April, and also suffered a broken arm [3] due to an incident involving self harm.
Scott Rush
Rush is a 19 year old from Brisbane, Queensland and was allegedly discovered with heroin weighing 1.5 kg concealed on his body at Denpasar airport during his first trip to Bali. He is now studying the Indonesian language.
Rush's father, Lee Rush, said he contacted the Australian Federal Police in April fearing his son was travelling to Bali and would commit a drug related crime. Lee Rush claims then to have received assurances from the AFP that they would tell his son he was under surveillance to dissuade him from going through with the crime. However, Scott Rush's lawyers said he was never contacted. Rush has brought an action in the Federal Court in Darwin against the AFP for breach of the bilateral treaty between Indonesia and Australia when information was handed by the AFP to the Indonesians. Such information should only be released by the Attorney-Gerneral. However, the Commonwealth Government maintains that the treaty only applies after a suspect is charged. (ABC News 7 October 2005)
Martin Stephens
Stephens is a 29 year old male from Wollongong, New South Wales. Stephens was allegedly discovered with heroin weighing 3.3 kg concealed on his body at Denpasar airport during his first trip to Bali. Stephens had met both Chan and Lawrence whilst working for a catering company. Adnan Wirawan, the laywer of Martin Stephens from Wollongong, says his client has been unfairly accussed as the ring leader of the alleged conspiracy. "He's a human suitcase... he was being told what to do,"
Myuran Sukumaran
Sukumaran is a 24 year old from Auburn, New South Wales and was allegedly discovered in the Melasti bungalows on Bali's Kuta Beach with several mobile phones and 350 grams of heroin.
