Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 5, 2006 20:01:39 GMT -5
Death penalty unconfirmed, says lawyer
06sep06
THERE has been no confirmation 20-year-old Bali Nine drug runner Scott Rush has been sentenced to death, a family friend said today.
"As far as I'm aware there's been no official confirmation and certainly as far as I'm aware the family haven't had any," Bob Myers, QC, told Channel 9 today.
But, Mr Myers said, if a report in today's Fairfax newspapers of the increased sentence is true, little could be done to save Rush.
Indonesia's Supreme Court imposed the new death sentences on Rush, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, 23, Si Yi Chen, 21, and the youngest of the group, 19-year-old Matthew Norman, the papers reported.
The men were sentenced to life in prison at their original trial, but that was cut to 20 years in jail by Bali's High Court.
Prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court, which has now given them the death penalty.
Fairfax also reported that on appeal, the death penalty has now also been handed to Rush.
The sentences mean at least six of the Australian heroin smugglers now face execution, with Andrew Chan, 22, and Myuran Sukumaran, 25, already facing the death penalty for their part in the attempt to smuggle eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia in April last year.
Mr Myers said: "I'm hoping that it's not true. But, certainly, the media seems to have more access to intelligence than the mere mortals.
"There's nothing left to be done within the court system because the Supreme Court is the ultimate court of appeal. Beyond that it's clemency at a higher level from the president and obviously those avenues, I think, would be pursued."
Mr Myers said the death sentence, if correct, had been inevitable from the beginning of the ordeal.
"The sentence was in effect inevitable from the time that the Australian authorities first notified the Indonesian authorities of what was happening," he said.
Asked if the Australian Federal Police's role in the drug bust had contributed to Rush's predicament, Mr Myers was categorical: "There's no doubt about it.
"They were asked to stop him and even then there was absolutely no justification, from my point of view, in their passing on intelligence to the Indonesian authorities which was going to have the inevitable result we fear today."
Verdicts in the appeals of Michael Czugaj and Martin Stephens are pending, while Renae Lawrence did not lodge a further appeal to her 20-year sentence.
privacy terms © The Australian
06sep06
THERE has been no confirmation 20-year-old Bali Nine drug runner Scott Rush has been sentenced to death, a family friend said today.
"As far as I'm aware there's been no official confirmation and certainly as far as I'm aware the family haven't had any," Bob Myers, QC, told Channel 9 today.
But, Mr Myers said, if a report in today's Fairfax newspapers of the increased sentence is true, little could be done to save Rush.
Indonesia's Supreme Court imposed the new death sentences on Rush, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, 23, Si Yi Chen, 21, and the youngest of the group, 19-year-old Matthew Norman, the papers reported.
The men were sentenced to life in prison at their original trial, but that was cut to 20 years in jail by Bali's High Court.
Prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court, which has now given them the death penalty.
Fairfax also reported that on appeal, the death penalty has now also been handed to Rush.
The sentences mean at least six of the Australian heroin smugglers now face execution, with Andrew Chan, 22, and Myuran Sukumaran, 25, already facing the death penalty for their part in the attempt to smuggle eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia in April last year.
Mr Myers said: "I'm hoping that it's not true. But, certainly, the media seems to have more access to intelligence than the mere mortals.
"There's nothing left to be done within the court system because the Supreme Court is the ultimate court of appeal. Beyond that it's clemency at a higher level from the president and obviously those avenues, I think, would be pursued."
Mr Myers said the death sentence, if correct, had been inevitable from the beginning of the ordeal.
"The sentence was in effect inevitable from the time that the Australian authorities first notified the Indonesian authorities of what was happening," he said.
Asked if the Australian Federal Police's role in the drug bust had contributed to Rush's predicament, Mr Myers was categorical: "There's no doubt about it.
"They were asked to stop him and even then there was absolutely no justification, from my point of view, in their passing on intelligence to the Indonesian authorities which was going to have the inevitable result we fear today."
Verdicts in the appeals of Michael Czugaj and Martin Stephens are pending, while Renae Lawrence did not lodge a further appeal to her 20-year sentence.
privacy terms © The Australian