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Bali nine: AFP 'know they did wrong': Lawyer
Sydney Morning Herald - May 4, 2015
AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin said on Monday that the authority was not in a position to arrest any of the Bali Nine before their ill-fated trip in 2005.
"At the time we were working with a very incomplete picture. We didn't know everybody involved, we didn't know all the plans, or even what the illicit commodity was likely to be," he said.
However Bob Myers, who was asked by Scott Rush's father to prevent his son leaving the country, said there was evidence this was not true.
Mr Myers contacted the AFP to inform them of Rush's suspected drug involvement, however it later emerged the syndicate had already been under investigation for several months.
"They deliberately brought the Indonesians into it," Mr Myers said. "They knew the imposition of the death penalty was likely and that was a consequence that they accepted."
Mr Myers pointed to two letters sent by the AFP to Indonesian authorities days before the smugglers departed Australia, which contained the passport details of eight drug mules and details of how they planned to transport heroin.
"They will be carrying body packs (with white powder) back to Australia with packs on both legs and also with back supports. They have already been given the back supports. The packs will be strapped to their bodies. They will be given money to exchange for local currency to purchase oversized loose shirts and sandals," one of the letters said.
Mr Myers said the letters proved the AFP could have arrested Scott Rush and others and charged them with conspiracy. "Even that didn't matter in the sense that they could have allowed them to come back here," he said.
On Monday, Commissioner Colvin could not guarantee the AFP would act differently if a Bali Nine-style situation emerged again.
"I wish I could assure you that this scenario could never happen again. But I cannot," Commissioner Colvin said, adding that the AFP had refused to exchange information in 15 cases during the last three years.
Mr Myers accused the AFP of "blatantly selling out" the Bali Nine for a perceived "common good".
"It was better that these people were subject to the death penalty rather than innocent Australian lives lost due to importation of drugs – that seems to be their justification," he said.
"They probably had sufficient evidence to charge them in February (2005), if not in March. Certainly by the 8th of April when Scott went through, the passport alert system was activated on three occasions. They could have had it all under control."
Mr Myers said he supported the AFP's current guidelines on dealing with potential death penalty cases, which was updated in 2009.
"They know they did the wrong thing and our hope is that they never do it again," Mr Myers said. "But it's too late. It was too late 10 years ago."
The Bali Nine's ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed last week. In the immediate aftermath, Mr Myers described the executions as a "black day" for the AFP.
The seven other members are in Indonesian prisons serving lengthy jail terms.
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/bali-nine-afp-know-they-did-wrong-lawyer-20150504-1na6yl.html.
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