INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has slashed the life sentence of a convicted French drug smuggler, heralding a major policy shift with enormous implications for the death-row members of the Bali Nine heroin smuggling gang. Australian traffickers Scott Rush, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan now stand a real chance of having their death sentences overturned, after Frenchman Michael Loic Blanc, 34, won a downgrading of his jail term to just 20 years.
MP lobbies to lift death sentence (SMH)
Cynthia Banham
June 3, 2009
THE NSW federal MP Chris Hayes has made what is likely to be his last impassioned speech in Parliament before lawyers for Scott Rush file the appeal against his death sentence to the Indonesian Supreme Court.
Mr Hayes said he hoped Rush received “a fair and objective hearing from the Indonesian Supreme Court”.
The MP has campaigned for Rush, the convicted drug mule and member of the Bali nine, since meeting his parents, Christine and Lee, a year ago.
Multi-faith forum – the Death Penalty
The Multi-Faith Centre at Griffith University, in cooperation with various faith, interfaith, and community organisations, will host the following event:
The Death Penalty: An Interfaith Forum
Speakers:
Prof. Sarva-Daman Singh (Hinduism)- Honorary Consul of India in Brisbane
Flame
Dr. Anne Nguyen (Buddhism) – Senior Lecturer, Computer Science & Technology, Griffith University
Peter Arndt (Christianity) – Executive Director Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, Brisbane
Imam Dr. Tariq Syed (Islam) – Council of Fatwa, Australian National Imams Council
Date:
Wednesday, 29 April
Time: 7.15 – 9.30 pm
Where: Multi-Faith Centre, Griffith University
For further information, email to: mfc@griffith.edu.au
RSVP by April 25 to: 3735-7052 or mfc@griffith.edu.au
Family prays for Bali Nine drug mule Scott Rush to be spared death penalty
AAP
April 10, 2009 04:48pm
* Family prayer vigil for Scott Rush
* 100 people at special Easter service
* Waiting outcome of appeal
THE family of convicted drug mule and Bali Nine member Scott Rush have continued hope he will be spared the death penalty.
About 100 people crowded into Brisbane’s Christ the King Church today, where Rush used to attend, for a prayer vigil, aimed at renewing debate about the death penalty.
Scott Rush’s agony – from The Catholic Leader Online
CONVICTED Bali Nine drug trafficker Scott Rush’s death-row agony persists with mixed messages relating to his likely fate continuing to emerge from Indonesia as he enters his fifth year of captivity.
Fr Tim Harris, of Scott’s former parish at Corinda-Graceville in Brisbane, said reports from Jakarta carried both hope and danger for Scott and others on death row.
For a second year, a prayer vigil will be held on Good Friday (April 10) at Christ the King Church, Graceville, to offer prayers for 23-year-old Scott and all those on death row around the world.
Scott’s parents Lee and Christine have indicated they expect to attend the vigil, and Lee Rush is expected to speak on his son’s dire predicament.
Fr Harris said he could not express “strongly enough” how crucial 2009 would be for Scott.
“It will be a make-or-break year because it’s when Scott’s final appeal will be made,” he said. “The legal team are, as we speak, working on the appeal.
Death Penalty Prayer Service
Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission will hold a further vigil to pray for all those on death row around the world.
The prayer vigil will take place on Good Friday, April 10, at noon at Christ the King Church, Churchill Street, Graceville.
The Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said that the plight of Scott Rush, whose family is part of the local Corinda-Graceville Parish, will continue to be a special focus of the vigil.
“We want to pray for all those around the world who face execution, but we are especially conscious of the pain and suffering of Scott Rush and his parents, Chris and Lee,” Mr Arndt said.
“We are very grateful for the support given to us by Fr Tim Harris and the Corinda-Graceville Parish,” he said.
“There are some comments coming from Indonesia which suggest that the time for further appeals by Scott and other Australians on death row may be limited, but we are not sure if this is actually the case,” he said.
“We do know that the Australian Government is adopting a much more positive attitude to universal abolition of capital punishment and this is very welcome,” he said.
“We hope that Catholics will continue to find the time to approach our politicians to ensure that they are doing everything they can to stop the execution of Scott and everyone else on death row,” he said.
“But we also want everyone praying constantly for Scott and his family and for everyone else affected by a death sentence in Indonesia and around the world,” he said.
“The day when Jesus was executed is an appropriate day for us to remember all those also facing execution,” he said.
“For those of us who believe in the message of the crucified Jesus, the message of God’s mercy, compassion and forgiveness is vital,” he said.
“We appeal to Catholics to stand against the violence of the death penalty and to stand up for life,” he said.
Good Friday, April 10, at noon
Christ the King Church,
Churchill Street, Graceville
For further information, please contact Peter Arndt on (07) 3336 9173 or 0409 265 476.
NB This release is issued with the approval of the Commission or its Executive under the provision of its Charter which enables it to speak in its own right. The views expressed in it do not necessarily represent the views of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.
Bali trio on execution list despite forthcoming legal appeal
November 17, 2008 10:52am
THREE members of the Bali Nine have been placed on an Indonesian execution list, with authorities insisting no mercy will be shown.
Convicted drug traffickers Andrew Chan, 24, Myuran Sukumaran, 27 and Scott Rush, 22, are on a list of 92 death row convicts who the Indonesian Attorney General’s Office insist will be put to death.
The trio are facing the death penalty for their roles in an ill-fated attempt to smuggle 8kg of heroin from Bali to Australia in 2005.
“The death sentences of the 92 convicts have been declared legally binding and are pending administrative procedures (before they are carried out),” assistant attorney general Abdul Hakim Ritonga told the Jakarta Post.
Inquiry into the AFP’s behaviour must cover the Bali Nine case
The Attorney-General has appointed former Supreme Court Justice, Mr. John Clarke QC, to inquire into various aspects of the way in which the Australian Federal Police and the Minister for Immigration, in 2007, took action against Dr. Mohamed Haneef.
Many people think that other aspects of conduct by the Australian Federal Police should also be the subject of a public inquiry, including its action in causing young Australians to be arrested for drug offences in Indonesia and be sentenced to death despite Australia being a signatory to international treaties prohibiting capital punishment.
There are many precedents for inquiries having their terms of reference expanded where significant public demand existed for such expansion. The famous Fitzgerald Inquiry in Queensland in the late 1980s is an excellent example.
You may therefore like to write to the Attorney-General, Mr. McClelland, and to Mr. Clarke requesting and suggesting that the terms of reference be expanded to allow Mr. Clarke to consider the AFP’s actions in having young Australians sentenced to death despite Australia’s international obligations for offences that would result in less than 20 years imprisonment in Australia.
The Attorney-General’s address is:
The Honourable Robert McClelland MP,The Attorney-General
Attorney-General’s Department
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
By Fax: (02) 6273 4102
The address for Mr. Clarke’s Inquiry is:
Secretariat to the Clarke Inquiry
Attorney-General’s Department
Robert Garran Offices
National Circuit
Barton ACT 2600
AACP at UQ’s World of Difference Conference – March 15th
Australians Against Capital Punishment will be running a workshop at the University of Queensland’s World of Difference social justice conference.
Date: Sat 15 March
Venue: UQ, St Lucia Brisbane, Room 232, Steele building
Time: AACP / SACP workshop Sat 2 – 3:30pm
We will also be running a stall in the Great Court from 12.30 onwards if anyone would like to come along and talk more informally before the workshop begins.
Our session will be discussing the ongoing role of AACP and the formation of Students Against Capital Punishment groups, our speakers will include Tim Goodwin from Amnesty International, and Lee and Christine Rush talking about their experiences as parents of someone on death row.
All are welcome, for more information contact Tina or phone 0423 709 445.
