Bali Nine accused stranded in court

BALI Nine defendant Martin Stephens took the witness stand yesterday ready to testify against fellow accused and friend Renae Lawrence, but didn't get a chance to tell his story.

The hearing was adjourned before Stephens, 29, of Wollongong, could speak because prosecutors had failed to arrange an interpreter for him.

Two other defendants, Brisbane friends Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj, both 19, failed to turn up to testify as prosecution witnesses.

Rush did not want to come and Czugaj was sick, prosecutor Ni Puta Indriati told Denpasar District Court.

Stephens arrived in the same police van as Lawrence - handcuffed separately.

He cut a lonely figure in the holding cell as he waited to be called to testify for the prosecution. Afterwards, Lawrence said she was disappointed Stephens had not been able to testify.

"I actually wanted it to be finished and over and done with," she said as the pair were bundled back into the police van to return to Kerobokan prison.

Adjourning the hearing to next Friday, chief judge I. Putu Widnya told Stephens, who looked dismayed and frustrated during 10 minutes of legal argument.

Judge Widnya had asked the defence to allow Lawrence's interpreter to sit with Stephens for the duration of his testimony, as she could understand English.

The defence objected, saying Lawrence would then be unable to follow what her lawyers, prosecutors and judges were saying. Defence counsel Yan Apul later said the accused mules could in fact help the defence case.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/balinine.html
Pubdate: Sat, 26 November 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Email: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://www.ntnews.com.au

Interpreter no-show halts Bali Nine trial

BALI Nine defendant Martin Stephens took the witness stand today ready to testify against fellow accused and friend Renae Lawrence, but did not get a chance to tell his story.

The hearing was adjourned before Mr Stephens, 29, of Wollongong, could open his mouth because prosecutors failed to arrange an interpreter for him.

Two other defendants, Brisbane friends Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj, both 19, had also been called to testify as prosecution witnesses, but did not show up.

Mr Rush did not want to come and Mr Czugaj was sick, prosecutor Ni Putu Indriati told Denpasar District Court.

Mr Stephens arrived in the same police van as Ms Lawrence, but they were handcuffed separately.

He cut a lonely figure in the holding cell as he waited to be called to testify for the prosecution.

Afterwards, Ms Lawrence said she was disappointed Mr Stephens had not been able to testify today.

"I actually wanted it to be finished and over and done with," she said as the pair were bundled back into the police van to return to Kerobokan prison.

Adjourning the hearing to next Friday, chief judge I Putu Widnya said he could not allow Mr Stephens to testify without an interpreter.

"To ensure your testimony is more transparent, we cannot hear it today," Judge Widnya told Mr Stephens, who looked dismayed and frustrated during 10 minutes of legal argument over the issue.

Judge Widnya had asked the defence to allow Ms Lawrence's interpreter to sit with Mr Stephens for the duration of his testimony, as she could understand what he said in English.

The defence objected, saying Ms Lawrence would then not be able to follow what her lawyers, prosecutors and judges were saying.

Defence counsel Yan Apul later said although they were being called as prosecution witnesses, the accused mules testimony could in fact help prove the defence case.

"Maybe we can take from these witnesses that someone else owns the drugs," he said.

Mr Rush's lawyer, Robert Khuana, denied his client was unwilling to testify.

"He's willing, but it's the prosecutor's fault that he did not show up because she did not inform me," Mr Khuana said.

Although prosecutors had no legal obligation to inform defence counsel when calling a client to testify, Mr Rush was reluctant to comply without his lawyer's knowledge and consent, Mr Khuana said.

Prosecutor Ni Putu Indriati said that under the law, Mr Rush had three chances to willingly turn up before prosecutors could force him.

Earlier in the hearing, a receptionist from the Hotel Adhi Dharma where Ms Lawrence and Mr Stephens shared a room for three nights before their arrest on April 17 told the court that alleged gang co-ordinator Andrew Chan had checked them in and paid for their room.

The four were allegedly caught at Bali airport with 8.3kg of heroin strapped to their bodies.

Mr Chan was also arrested at the airport with no drugs on him, while another four men were arrested at a Kuta hotel.


Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thur, 24 November 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Author: Marian Hinchliffe
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/

Act now on death penalties

JAKARTA: The Australian Government must not repeat mistakes made with condemned drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van in Singapore, lawyers said yesterday.

The said the Government must open talks immediately with Indonesia on nine Australians facing the death penalty in Bali.

Anggia Browne, the counsel for alleged Bali Nine drug mule Renae Lawrence, said the Government had seemingly ignored Nguyen's case until it was too late.

"They are too slow and it seems they are not very serious in this case," she said. "There has got to be an effort from the Australian Government.

"We are just here doing the best we can but if the Government helps us now it will be better."

Nguyen's mother Kim Nguyen and brother Khoa spent an hour with the 25-year-old in Singapore's Changi Prison yesterday.


Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/balinine.html
Pubdate: Thur, 24 November 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Email: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://www.ntnews.com.au

Bali Nine stake hopes on PM

THE Federal Government must not repeat mistakes made with condemned drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van and should immediately open talks with Indonesia to save the Bali Nine, lawyers said yesterday.

Anggia Browne, the counsel for alleged Bali Nine drug mule Renae Lawrence, said the Government seemed to have ignored Nguyen's case until it was too late to save him from execution.

"They are too slow and it seems they are not very serious in this case," she said.

"There has got to be an effort from the Australian Government. We are just here doing the best we can, but if the Government helps us now, it will be better."

Ms Browne said the Bali Nine, whose trials on charges of heroin trafficking continued this week, were all young and "still have hope for their lives".

"Bloody hell, the Government doesn't seem to care about all this," she said.

"The talks have got to be now."

Her pleas were backed by the lawyer for another accused drug mule, former Wollongong resident Martin Stephens, who like Lawrence faces the possibility of being executed by an Indonesian firing squad.

"It has got to be now," Adnan Wirawan warned.

"Australia knows that Indonesia applies the death penalty and based on the statistics over the last 10 years, many people caught with narcotics and heroin have not escaped death.

"I don't see any effort (by the Australian Government) up until today." He said an agreement on legal affairs between Indonesia and Australia could provide the basis for talks if Canberra was willing to back claims by the Bali Nine that they were minor players in a wider drug syndicate.

Three of the alleged gang members attended the Denpasar District Court yesterday for their joint trial – Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen and Tan Duc Thanh.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/balinine.html
Pubdate: Thur, 24 Nov 2005
Source: The Advertiser (Australia)
Author: Rob Taylor
Website: http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/

Bali Nine defendant denies funding claim

A Brisbane man has denied in an Indonesian court that he financed any part of the Bali Nine's alleged heroin smuggling operation.

Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, 23, and two co-accused Matthew Norman, 19, and Si Yi Chen, 20, both of Sydney, sat passively as prosecutors opened their case against them.

The three face the death penalty under charges of conspiring to export heroin from Bali to Australia.

They were arrested at Kuta's Melasti Hotel in April along with alleged kingpin Myuran Sukumaran. Police claim they seized suitcases containing 300g of heroin as well as smuggling materials.

Plainclothes police officer I Nyoman Suardana, who tracked the group before their arrest, said Nguyen covered the hotel expenses of at least two accused drug mules, Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj, both 19 of Brisbane.

"I directly saw Nguyen pay the bill at the Hotel Aneka," Suardana told Denpasar District Court.

"But I confirmed it with the receptionist, who said, `Yes, it was the plump one who paid'."

Nguyen was not staying at the Aneka hotel, but allegedly went there to check the pair out on April 17 after helping to strap plastic packages of heroin to their bodies as part of a botched smuggling attempt, prosecutors allege.

Nguyen denied paying for anything.

"I didn't pay the bill at the hotel, and I rarely met my friends while I was in Bali," he said through a translator when asked by judges if he accepted Suardana's testimony.

According to the police dossier, Nguyen allegedly helped coordinate the movements of four alleged mules and promised them a $A5,000 reward if they successfully smuggled the packages to Sydney.

Rush, Czugaj and the two other accused mules were arrested at Bali airport with a total of 8.3kg of heroin strapped to their bodies.

The group's alleged coordinator, Andrew Chan, was also caught at the airport, but with no heroin on him.

The court also heard testimony from six other prosecution witnesses, including hotel staff and taxi drivers who testified about the group's movements in the hours before their arrest.

Melasti Hotel bellboy Ida Bagus Komang Kusuma Yasa told the court that Nguyen and three other Bali Nine defendants were unusually protective of their belongings when they checked-in on April 17, with Norman in particular acting edgy.

"At the time, I thought: `This whitey doesn't trust me'," Yasa said.

The trial was adjourned until November 30.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/balinine.html
Pubdate: Wed, 23 Nov 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Author: Australian Associated Press
Website: http://www.smh.com.au

Drug trial bid fails

DENPASAR: An Indonesian court yesterday threw out a defence bid to have all charges dropped against Bali Nine defendant Scott Rush, clearing the way for prosecutors to start calling witnesses in his trial.

Rush, dressed in black pants and a white shirt with a wooden crucifix around his neck, sat impassively as chief judge I Made Sudia ruled that the charges of conspiring to export 8.3kg of heroin from Bali to Australia in April were valid.

His parents Lee and Christine watched from the front row of the public gallery of the Denpasar District Court.

The hearing was adjourned until next Thursday when the court will hear testimony from prosecution witnesses.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/balinine.html
Pubdate: Fri, 11 November 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Website: http://www.ntnews.com.au
Email: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au

Cops accused of destroying Aussies

DENPASAR: Defence lawyers for Martin Stephens want Australian Federal Police officers to testify at his Indonesian trial.

The fater of the accused Bali Nine drug mule, meanwhile, has accused the AFP of destorying the nine's lives by tipping off Indonesian police about their alleged heroin-smuggling activities knowing they could face the death penalty.

"What the AFP did has destroyed families," Bill Stephens, Martin's father, said yesterday. "Martin's always been a good kid. Now it's just an absolute mess."

Having the AFP testify that Stpehens was "just a human suitcase" and not involved in organising the smuggling attempt could be the 29-year-old Wollongong man's only chance of escaping death, lawyer Wirawan Adnan said.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/balinine.html
Pubdate: Thur, 10 November 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Website: http://www.ntnews.com.au
Email: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au

PM - Father of accused drug trafficker claims he was wrongly advised by AFP

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2005/s1501483.htm]

MARK BANNERMAN: The father of an Australian man facing the death penalty in Indonesia says he almost flew to Bali himself to stop his son from committing a crime.

Lee Rush is the father of Scott Rush, and Scott is one of the so-called "Bali Nine" charged with heroin smuggling Indonesian prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against.

The affidavit released in Darwin today reveals that Mr Rush senior only refrained from going to Bali himself because he was wrongly assured that the Australian Police had given his son a warning before he flew to Bali.

Anne Barker reports.

ANNE BARKER: Scott Rush was one of four Australians caught at Denpasar Airport in April with packs of heroin allegedly strapped to their bodies.

Their trials began last month, and if convicted they could face a firing squad.

In Darwin lawyers for the four are taking legal action against Australian Federal Police, alleging they acted illegally in passing information to Indonesian authorities that led to the nine arrests.

In an affidavit released today, Lee Rush spoke of the anxiety he felt in April when a travel agent left a phone message for his son Scott that his tickets were ready. As far as he knew, he said, his son had no passport or even the money for such a trip.

"My state of mind was that I was stunned," he said, "and immediately suspicious and fearful about my son. I was determined to save my son from committing any offence in Bali, and I was intending to intervene immediately and stop him by going to Bali myself."

But he rang a barrister friend, Bob Myers, he said, who told him, "I may know someone who can help you."

In his own affidavit Bob Myers revealed he rang a police officer, Damon Patching, requesting that Federal Police detain Scott Rush at Sydney Airport to prevent him from leaving Australia.

"I requested that Scott be left in no doubt that his every move would be watched in Bali," Mr Myers said. "And that it would be foolish for him to become involved in any illegal activity while he was there. I was confident that Scott would not have participated in any illegal activity, had he become aware that he was under observation."

But Damon Patching told him that Federal Police could not stop Scott Rush from leaving the country, but would place an alert on his passport and speak to him if it was activated.

"After that assurance," Bob Myers said, "I rang Lee Rush and passed this information on to him. Lee said words to the effect that he was comfortable that if Scott was given such a warning, he would probably not offend. Lee said to me words of the effect, “otherwise I will go to Bali and stop Scott from becoming involved in any illegal activity."

Mr Myers said Damon Patching later assured him that Scott Rush had been spoken to at the airport, and on that basis he advised Lee Rush not to travel to Bali.

"It was only because of my assurance that Scott had been counselled at Sydney Airport," he said, "that neither Lee nor I had taken any further steps to ensure Scott's safety."

Mr Myers continued, "I did not contemplate that the AFP might inform the Indonesian authorities that Scott might be trafficking in that country. Had I thought that this was in any way conceivable I would not have communicated with the AFP in the first instance. I would simply have urged Lee to intervene personally as he had originally intended to do."

And he went on, "It appears Federal Police in providing information to Indonesian authorities acted in contravention of AFP practical guidelines."

Lee Rush, in his affidavit, spoke of the emotions he felt on the eve of his son's trial.

"My state of mind is one of the deepest anxiety that my son faces the risk of having the death penalty imposed, whereas it could not be imposed in Australia, had they been allowed to proceed to Australia."

The case has been adjourned for several weeks.

MARK BANNERMAN: Anne Barker reporting.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 09 November 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Email: comments@your.abc.net.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Reporter: Anne Barker

Decision looms on Bali Nine evidence

A FEDERAL Court judge said yesterday he hoped to make a swift decision on whether the alleged Bali Nine drug mules should be given access to records about their arrest.

The court, sitting in Darwin, has wound up a two-day hearing to decide if four Australians arrested in Bali should be able to access the documents, to see if they have grounds to launch a court challenge against the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

The AFP wrote to Indonesian authorities several days before the four were arrested, passing on detailed information about the alleged drug activity.

Their lawyer, Colin McDonald, QC, has told the Federal Court the AFP's actions may have been "unlawful" because it exposed the four to the risk of the death penalty, to which Australia is opposed.

The four - Scott Rush, Renae Lawrence, Martin Stephens and Michael Czugaj - could face the firing squad if found guilty in trials being held in Bali.

"I would hope to have a decision for the parties quickly," Justice Paul Finn said.

Australian government solicitor Tom Howe said the AFP knew letters they sent to Indonesian authorities about the alleged drug activity might lead to the arrest of some of the so-called Bali Nine.

But, he said, that had not been the main intention of the letters, which were written seeking Indonesian help in an AFP investigation.

He also said the AFP needed to work with police in other countries to fight transnational crime.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/balinine.html
Pubdate: Wed, 09 November 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Website: http://www.ntnews.com.au
Email: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au

2 join Bali Nine pair suing federal police

TWO more members of the Bali Nine have joined legal action aimed at having the Australian Federal Police's role in their arrest found illegal.

Martin Stephens and Michael Czugaj joined Scott Rush and Renae Lawrence yesterday in their application to the Federal Court in Darwin.

The four alleged drug mules claim the AFP acted illegally when it helped Indonesian authorities arrest them in Bali because it put them in danger of the death penalty.

The applicants' lawyer Colin McDonald, QC, said the AFP had given "unlawful and unsolicited" assistant to the Indonesian police which put the four at "risk of the application of the death penalty".

Mr McDonald had asked for the documentation naming the AFP officers who worked on the case, and for the details of the AFP's agreement with Indonesia.

But Federal Court judge Paul Finn refused to release the memorandum of understanding yesterday on the basis it was a threat in national security.

The judge also suppressed an affidavit Ms Lawrence filed.

But he released one by the AFP's senior liaison officer in Bali, Paul Hunniford, which detailed a request put to Indonesian police on April 8, 2005. The four alleged drug mules were arrested on April 17, 2005, as they waited to board a flight back to Sydney.

Five others, including alleged mastermind Andrew Chan, were also arrested.

In the letter, Mr Hunniford asked that Rush and Czugaj be put under surveillance. He also asked the Indonesians to "obtain as much evidence/intelligence as possible to assist the AFP to identify the organisers in Australia and the source of the narcotics in Indonesia. If there is a suspicion that Chan and/or the couriers are carrying the illegal narcotics at the time of their departure, please take whatever action you consider necessary," Mr Hunniford wrote.

A second letter, dated April 12, gave the alleged drug runners departure details on April 14 and 16.

The letter warned that if some of the group were arrested on April 14 "there is a possibility that Tan Duc Nguyen, Michael Czugaj and Scott Rush will become suspicious ... and decide not to take the Saturday flight with narcotics".

"For that reason we request that you consider conducting the search of Nguyen, Czugaj and Rush immediately after the first group is detained," Mr Hunniford wrote.

Mr McDonald said this amounted to "clear instructions they were to arrest and detain" his clients.

Justice Finn asked Mr McDonald whether he knew of a case where "the authorities were required not to take a step to protect the safety of their citizens", Mr McDonald said he knew of no other case.

The hearing resumes today.


Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Tues, 8 November 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Author: Rebecca Hewett
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/

Letter influenced arrest of Bali nine, court told

A Federal Government lawyer has told a Darwin court that a letter sent to Indonesian authorities influenced the arrest of nine Australians on drug charges in Bali.

Four members of the group have taken action against the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in the Federal Court in Darwin.

Scott Rush, Renae Lawrence, Michael Czugaj and Martin Stephens allege the AFP acted illegally in handing information to Indonesian authorities that led to their arrest.

The court heard a letter was sent by the AFP to Indonesian police detailing information about a group of Australians suspected of importing narcotics.

The government lawyer, Tom Howe, said it was accepted that the AFP understood the letter might lead to intervention by Indonesian police.

He said the Indonesian investigation did not begin before the receipt of the AFP letter.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Tue, 08 November 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Email: comments@your.abc.net.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/

Bali nine mother blasts police

The mother of an Australian facing execution in Bali has accused the federal police of acting dishonestly and showing a "callous disregard" for the life of a young traveller on his first trip overseas.

Christine Rush said in court documents made public yesterday that she was "totally dismayed and bewildered" by evidence that the federal police gave Indonesian police specific information about her son Scott, 19, one of nine alleged drug couriers arrested in Bali on April 17.

"The inaction of not warning our son, contrary to our request in Australia, shows a callous disregard for the life of an immature, untravelled Australian citizen as he is now facing charges which carry a maximum penalty of the death sentence because of this inaction and so-called co-operation," she said.

Mrs Rush, a Brisbane teacher, said in the affidavit filed in the Federal Court sitting in Darwin that the federal police acted dishonestly "in the response given to us when our family raised concerns before Scott left Australia" on April 7 this year.

She said she was shocked when she heard evidence in a court in Bali last month that the police provided the name, date of birth, passport number, photograph and place of residence in Bali of her son.

Lee Rush said in another affidavit filed yesterday that he was misled by the police, who assured him before his son left Australia they would warn Scott about committing offences in Indonesia.

"As it now transpires, the authorities appear to have done nothing at all in response to my pleas," he said.

Scott Rush and three other Australians who were arrested at Bali international airport are taking legal action in the Federal Court over what they claim is unlawful action by the federal police that has exposed them to the death penalty.

Scott Rush, Michael Czugaj, 19, from Brisbane, Renae Lawrence, 28, from Newcastle and Martin Stephens, 29, from Wollongong, want access to documents about their arrest, which the police have refused to hand over.

Colin McDonald, QC, representing the four, told the court the "right not to be exposed to the death penalty is the right of every Australian".

The court will continue hearing the case today.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/balinine.html
Pubdate: Tue, 08 November 2005
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Author: Lindsay Murdoch
Copyright: 2005 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441

AFP sent two letters before Bali nine arrests, court told

The Federal Court in Darwin has heard that the Australian Federal Police (AFP) sent two letters to Indonesian authorities days before the arrest of a group of Australians on drug charges.

Scott Rush, Renae Lawrence, Michael Czugaj and Martin Stephens were among nine people arrested in Bali in April with heroin strapped to their bodies.

The four allege the AFP acted illegally in tipping off Indonesian authorities about their alleged activities.

Today the court heard that the AFP wrote to Indonesian police on April 8 and 12, giving considerable information to assist in the investigation into the Australians.

The court heard the AFP also requested Indonesian police carry out surveillance of the alleged drug couriers.

One letter identified people suspected of importing narcotics from Bali to Australia, saying they would be carrying body packs containing white powder.

The letter states the group planned to import the drugs last December but cancelled its plan because of insufficient funds.

The lawyer for the four said the case raised serious issues about the legality of the federal police actions.

The four could face the death penalty if they are found guilty of drug trafficking.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Mon, 07 November 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Email: comments@your.abc.net.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/

Court refuses Bali accused's bid to see police deal

A judge has ruled that a document requested by lawyers for two of nine Australians on drug charges in Bali not be produced in a Darwin court.

Lawyers for Scott Rush and Renae Lawrence have lodged action in the Federal Court in Darwin alleging the Australian Federal Police (AFP) may have acted illegally in handing information to Indonesian authorities that led to their arrest.

The lawyers requested a memorandum of understanding between police agencies in Australia and Indonesia be produced.

But a lawyer for the Commonwealth argued it was a sensitive document and producing it could be contrary to national security.

The court heard Michael Czugai and Martin Stephens would also join the proceeding against the AFP.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Mon, 07 November 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Email: comments@your.abc.net.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/

Mothers' hearts break in the shadow of death row

While others debate the death sentence, parents know only the pain.

THE broken hearts of mothers are of themselves not good reason to change laws, but they can offer a window into something more than just maternal pain.

No matter what your views on capital punishment, drug trafficking, or the stupidity of those who put themselves at risk of one through the other, it's a hard heart that does not respond to the pain of women such as Kim Nguyen, Christine Rush and Michele Stephens.

There is dignity and agony apparent in these women, and not a little quiet anger. They find themselves cast as the nation's conscience at a time when their boys, three Australian sons, present the country with a dilemma long ago resolved on these shores but not on others nearby. Never discuss religion or politics with your neighbours, it is said; and there is no issue that entwines these arms of contention so completely. Should a state kill? And if so, when? And how? And if another state decides to kill one of ours, what right do we have to tell them they cannot?

Kim Nguyen says in speaking of her son Nguyen Tuong Van, facing imminent execution in Singapore: "He is my heart. If something happens to my son, my heart will be stopped."

Witness, too, the pain of the mothers of the Bali nine, the young Australians on trial for their lives in Indonesia for heroin smuggling.

One day this week, Michele Stephens, the mother of confessed drug mule Martin, spent a few minutes with her son through the bars of a holding cell behind the Denpasar District Court. Stephens is a strapping man who seems to be withstanding his ordeal well. But his eyes betray something: regret, perhaps, sadness, and anger. Whatever the ghosts, they surely haunt him as much for what he has done to his mother as for what he has done to himself.

Mrs Stephens has said she and he find solace in God, but they seem also to draw strength from each other. While talking to his mother, the son puts his arm through the bars. He rests the hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer, as close as the bars will allow. She does not cry; he looks like he might.

So she smiles. Not a happy smile, but the smile of a mother who knows she has forgiven him everything and must now give him everything she can. All her strength, and that means a smile even when tears might fall more easily.

Also at court this day is Christine Rush; her son Scott, just 19, is also a drug mule on trial.

Mrs Rush and her husband Lee, face unique anguish. In court documents filed in Australia, it is said that it was Lee Rush himself who went to the federal police and told them what his son was going to do.

He did so, he says, so that they might warn him off; stop him before he went to Bali. The police didn't, and Scott may now die — if it comes to it, dragged from his cell without warning, taken to an isolated forest or beach, and shot.

Like all the parents who have visited their children in Bali, Christine and Lee Rush display a simple dignity, and no one can be sure what it conceals other than certain devotion to their son. Watching them, day in and day out — visiting him in prison, coming to court even when he is not there just to support his friends at their trials — you think that everyone deserves parents like these.

But can these parents answer for us questions of law and state?

The death penalty is not an issue that has seriously troubled Australians at home for decades, and presents itself now only because of a remarkable confluence of events abroad that challenge us to wrestle it. As ever, the responses illustrate the difficulty of the issue.

We pick and choose. Yes for the Bali bombers, no for Nguyen. Or yes for Nguyen, but we'd never have worn it for Corby. Yes for some of the Bali nine, but not others. Kill them all. Spare them all.

It is legitimate to oppose the death penalty in principle and have little sympathy for those who deliberately put themselves in its path in another country? And what business is it of ours what Singapore does, or Indonesia? None. Or should we demand higher standards of those with whom we do business and who we regard as friends?

Should we blithely let them execute theirs, but not ours?

Is every life sacred?

This is a line not simply drawn, and we search for a road map. We do not, most of us, want people shot or hanged for being young and stupid. But then, they did know what they were doing.

We look at these young Australians and we struggle to divine where our hearts should land. In that search for an answer, perhaps it is the broken hearts of mothers that point us to a place we can live with.

Neil McMahon is reporting the Bali trials for The Age.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sat, 05 Nov 2005
Source: The Age (Australia)
Author: Neil McMahon
Website: http://www.theage.com.au/