Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 6, 2006 13:10:00 GMT -5
Family shocked at death penalty reports
The father of convicted Bali Nine drug courier Scott Rush says he is
dumbfounded by news his son is now facing the death penalty in Indonesia.
The Australian government was urgently trying to confirm reports that
Indonesia's Supreme Court has issued new, unexpected appeal verdicts on 4
of the 9 Australians convicted of trying to smuggle heroin to Australia
last year.
Brisbane-based Lee Rush said a Fairfax journalist told the family on
Tuesday night that death sentences had been handed down to 20-year-old son
Scott Rush, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, 23, Si Yi Chen, 21, and 19-year-old
Matthew Norman - 4 of the Bali 9.
Nguyen, Chen and Norman had previously had life terms reduced to 20 years
on appeal.
Rush did not originally challenge his life sentence but his father said he
was aware his son had recently launched an appeal.
The reported death sentences are a shock because prosecutors had asked
only that their life terms be reaffirmed.
Mr Rush said he had no reason not to believe the reports in Fairfax
newspapers.
But he said the family was "dumbfounded" at the shock decision and was
doing its best to cope.
"We've never fully understood the Indonesian law and their method of
delivering verdicts and we're even more dumbfounded now," he told ABC
radio.
Mr Rush told AAP the family would fly to Bali "in the future" but had not
yet had time to decide how soon.
"I haven't even thought down that way and there's much too much to think
about," Mr Rush said.
"With the amount of phone calls that we've been taking I haven't even been
able to think.
"It's very hard to think or even book an air flight."
The family will contact Mr Rush's Indonesian lawyer to seek more news.
The sentences mean at least 6 of the Australian heroin smugglers now face
execution, with Andrew Chan, 22, and Myuran Sukumaran, 25, already facing
the death penalty.
Verdicts in the appeals of Michael Czugaj and Martin Stephens are pending,
and Renae Lawrence did not lodge a further appeal to her 20-year sentence.
(source: AAP)
The father of convicted Bali Nine drug courier Scott Rush says he is
dumbfounded by news his son is now facing the death penalty in Indonesia.
The Australian government was urgently trying to confirm reports that
Indonesia's Supreme Court has issued new, unexpected appeal verdicts on 4
of the 9 Australians convicted of trying to smuggle heroin to Australia
last year.
Brisbane-based Lee Rush said a Fairfax journalist told the family on
Tuesday night that death sentences had been handed down to 20-year-old son
Scott Rush, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, 23, Si Yi Chen, 21, and 19-year-old
Matthew Norman - 4 of the Bali 9.
Nguyen, Chen and Norman had previously had life terms reduced to 20 years
on appeal.
Rush did not originally challenge his life sentence but his father said he
was aware his son had recently launched an appeal.
The reported death sentences are a shock because prosecutors had asked
only that their life terms be reaffirmed.
Mr Rush said he had no reason not to believe the reports in Fairfax
newspapers.
But he said the family was "dumbfounded" at the shock decision and was
doing its best to cope.
"We've never fully understood the Indonesian law and their method of
delivering verdicts and we're even more dumbfounded now," he told ABC
radio.
Mr Rush told AAP the family would fly to Bali "in the future" but had not
yet had time to decide how soon.
"I haven't even thought down that way and there's much too much to think
about," Mr Rush said.
"With the amount of phone calls that we've been taking I haven't even been
able to think.
"It's very hard to think or even book an air flight."
The family will contact Mr Rush's Indonesian lawyer to seek more news.
The sentences mean at least 6 of the Australian heroin smugglers now face
execution, with Andrew Chan, 22, and Myuran Sukumaran, 25, already facing
the death penalty.
Verdicts in the appeals of Michael Czugaj and Martin Stephens are pending,
and Renae Lawrence did not lodge a further appeal to her 20-year sentence.
(source: AAP)