ladyarkles
04-19-2005, 06:14 AM
Source: aksamana.Net
Nine Australians have been arrested in Bali for allegedly attempting to smuggle heroin out of the resort island, an offense that carries the death penalty, authorities said Monday (18/4/05).
The eight men and one woman, aged between 18 and 29, were arrested on Sunday after a 10-week operation between Australian and Indonesian police.
Police said four of them were arrested in a hotel and five of them arrested at Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the nine were caught with 8 kilograms of heroin. Bali Police anti-drugs division chief Lieutenant Colonel Bambang Sugiarto said the raids netted 11.25 kilograms of heroin, most of it seized at the airport.
The arrests come as 27-year-old Australian woman Schapelle Corby, accused of trying to smuggle 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into Bali in October, awaits the verdict in her case. Prosecutors are due to make their sentencing demand on April 21. Australia has appealed to Indonesia not to hand down the death sentence against Corby, who claims the drugs were planted in her surfboard bag.
Downer said the Australians arrested on Sunday had been attempting to fly to Sydney. “They've been detained because it is alleged they were trafficking in 8 kilograms of heroin which they were proposing to bring to Australia,” he said.
“As is always the case the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to these nine people and that doesn't mean of course that any government department in Australia can change the laws of another country. We can't but we can provide consular assistance and at this stage the nine are being held in a police station, subject to charges being brought and if charges are brought they'll be transferred to prison in Bali as the case proceeds,” he said.
“This is yet another very clear message though to all Australians that drug trafficking is not only immoral because of the consequences of drug trafficking for the people who consume the drugs but it is also a profoundly serious criminal offence and people who contemplate trafficking in drugs do face very, very severe penalties,” he added.
Downer said the arrests were the result of cooperation between the Australian Federal Police and the Indonesian National Police.
He said publicity generated by the Corby case over Indonesia’s use of the death penalty for drug offenses should have discouraged Australians from becoming involved in narcotics smuggling in Indonesia.
“We are not condemning anybody to guilt before we know. I would have thought with all the publicity there has been around the whole issue of drug trafficking, not just recently but over very many years, only a very foolish person would ever consider getting involved in such activities. But in the case of these nine, they've been arrested on an allegation of drug trafficking it remains to be seen whether that allegation is upheld by the court,” he said.
Downer said the nine were believed to be from the cities of Sydney and Brisbane.
Sugiarto said four of the Australians, including the woman, were nabbed after checking in at the airport at 7pm Sunday. He said the four had taped a total of 10.9 kilograms of heroin to their bodies.
He said police later arrested four more Australians at Melasti Beach Resort Hotel in Kuta, where they seized a further 350 grams of heroin, some scales and other evidence. Two of the detainees were of Asian descent, one of Indian descent and the fourth was Caucasian.
Sugiarto said police then arrested the ninth Australian, with the initials C.A., at the airport while he was attempting to depart on an Australian Airlines flight.
He said no drugs were seized from C.A., who had attempted to bribe police when caught and is believed to be the head of a heroin smuggling syndicate.
The nine Australians are being detained at Bali Police headquarters but are yet to undergo formal interrogation until they are accompanied by a lawyer, he added.
They are to be charged under Law No. 22/1997 on Narcotics, which provides a maximum sentence of death for the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs.
Corby
Corby is due to back in court on Thursday to hear whether prosecutors will ask for the death penalty. Her trail was delayed last week when she collapsed in court.
Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda said the Corby case is unlikely to damage ties between Australia and Indonesia.
"I think there is a good understanding from both that this is more of a problem of law enforcement, nothing to do with politics. I don't think this will affect the bilateral relationship," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The Australian government has asked that Corby be allowed to serve any jail sentence in Australia if convicted.
Downer denied the arrest of the nine Australians would adversely affect Corby’s case. “I don't think one case should have any bearing on other cases. I think in that context, certainly in terms of the facts of the case, the facts of every case are obviously going to be different. There's no relationship between the alleged facts in this case and the alleged facts in Schapelle Corby's case.”
He declined to mention the exact role played by Australian police in the latest arrests. “I'm not going into that but they obviously worked with the Indonesian National Police closely on this because the Australian Federal Police are tasked by the Australian government to be tough on drug trafficking,” he said.
“And there is no question of this, we feel very strongly about drug trafficking and we do everything we can as a government to try and stop it. And we expect other governments do to the same. Now, where people get involved in drug trafficking they take enormous risks, in some countries drug trafficking bring with it capital punishment. We don't support capital punishment, if Australians ever get into that situation and some Australians are involved in that some situation at the moment, we plead for clemency. And we will always do what we can to try to ensure that Australians don't get executed but nevertheless we take a very tough view on drug trafficking - there is no question about that. And we appreciate it when other countries cooperate in trying to crack down on drug trafficking around the region and for that matter around the world. It's not to condemn these nine to guilt, these people have been arrested, there is an allegation made against them and that will be heard in the fullness of time.”
Asked whether Australian police had considered allowing the drugs into Australia and then making an arrest, Downer replied: “Well, the offence was committed in Indonesia and obviously in that case where an offence is committed that jurisdiction would normally deal with that offence. Rather than, you can imagine just allowing people to escape from one jurisdiction into another jurisdiction. So where an offence is committed that's typically where charges, alleged offence is committed, that is where charges will be brought.”
He declined to reveal whether any other people than the nine Australians were involved in the case. Nor would he confirm whether the suspects were born in Australia or recent Australian citizens. “They're all Australian citizens, we don't discriminate between Australians on the basis of whether they were born, you are either an Australian or you are not an Australian, once you obtain Australian citizenship that's that.”
A spokeswoman for the Australian police said the nine are believed to be linked to a larger drug syndicate operating in Indonesia and Australia.
Indonesia has for years been a transit point for international drug smuggling syndicates due to its lax border controls, rampant corruption and poor law enforcement. Over recent years the country has also become a major destination for syndicates due to the growing number of drug users.
In an effort to combat the problem, courts have become increasingly accustomed to handing down the death sentence to foreigners convicted of drug smuggling.
Two Thai nationals convicted of smuggling 12.29 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia were executed by firing squad last October. An Indian man was executed in August for involvement in the same case.
Most of the more than 30 people now on death row in Indonesia for drug offenses are foreigners, including several Africans. Critics complain that Indonesia's notoriously corrupt courts have failed to mete out similar harsh justice to members of the military and police allegedly involved in narcotics trafficking. There are also complaints that children of powerful military officers and politicians are rarely punished, let alone put to death, for drug offenses.
Indonesia is among 90 countries that impose the death penalty. Data from Amnesty International shows that most of the world's executions are carried out by only a handful of countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US.
Indonesia has rejected calls from domestic and international human rights groups to abolish the death penalty for drug offenders. But Supreme Court chief justice Bagir Manan last Thursday proposed that the death sentence should be changed into a life sentence if a prisoner has been jailed for more than five years.
Nine Australians have been arrested in Bali for allegedly attempting to smuggle heroin out of the resort island, an offense that carries the death penalty, authorities said Monday (18/4/05).
The eight men and one woman, aged between 18 and 29, were arrested on Sunday after a 10-week operation between Australian and Indonesian police.
Police said four of them were arrested in a hotel and five of them arrested at Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the nine were caught with 8 kilograms of heroin. Bali Police anti-drugs division chief Lieutenant Colonel Bambang Sugiarto said the raids netted 11.25 kilograms of heroin, most of it seized at the airport.
The arrests come as 27-year-old Australian woman Schapelle Corby, accused of trying to smuggle 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into Bali in October, awaits the verdict in her case. Prosecutors are due to make their sentencing demand on April 21. Australia has appealed to Indonesia not to hand down the death sentence against Corby, who claims the drugs were planted in her surfboard bag.
Downer said the Australians arrested on Sunday had been attempting to fly to Sydney. “They've been detained because it is alleged they were trafficking in 8 kilograms of heroin which they were proposing to bring to Australia,” he said.
“As is always the case the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to these nine people and that doesn't mean of course that any government department in Australia can change the laws of another country. We can't but we can provide consular assistance and at this stage the nine are being held in a police station, subject to charges being brought and if charges are brought they'll be transferred to prison in Bali as the case proceeds,” he said.
“This is yet another very clear message though to all Australians that drug trafficking is not only immoral because of the consequences of drug trafficking for the people who consume the drugs but it is also a profoundly serious criminal offence and people who contemplate trafficking in drugs do face very, very severe penalties,” he added.
Downer said the arrests were the result of cooperation between the Australian Federal Police and the Indonesian National Police.
He said publicity generated by the Corby case over Indonesia’s use of the death penalty for drug offenses should have discouraged Australians from becoming involved in narcotics smuggling in Indonesia.
“We are not condemning anybody to guilt before we know. I would have thought with all the publicity there has been around the whole issue of drug trafficking, not just recently but over very many years, only a very foolish person would ever consider getting involved in such activities. But in the case of these nine, they've been arrested on an allegation of drug trafficking it remains to be seen whether that allegation is upheld by the court,” he said.
Downer said the nine were believed to be from the cities of Sydney and Brisbane.
Sugiarto said four of the Australians, including the woman, were nabbed after checking in at the airport at 7pm Sunday. He said the four had taped a total of 10.9 kilograms of heroin to their bodies.
He said police later arrested four more Australians at Melasti Beach Resort Hotel in Kuta, where they seized a further 350 grams of heroin, some scales and other evidence. Two of the detainees were of Asian descent, one of Indian descent and the fourth was Caucasian.
Sugiarto said police then arrested the ninth Australian, with the initials C.A., at the airport while he was attempting to depart on an Australian Airlines flight.
He said no drugs were seized from C.A., who had attempted to bribe police when caught and is believed to be the head of a heroin smuggling syndicate.
The nine Australians are being detained at Bali Police headquarters but are yet to undergo formal interrogation until they are accompanied by a lawyer, he added.
They are to be charged under Law No. 22/1997 on Narcotics, which provides a maximum sentence of death for the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs.
Corby
Corby is due to back in court on Thursday to hear whether prosecutors will ask for the death penalty. Her trail was delayed last week when she collapsed in court.
Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda said the Corby case is unlikely to damage ties between Australia and Indonesia.
"I think there is a good understanding from both that this is more of a problem of law enforcement, nothing to do with politics. I don't think this will affect the bilateral relationship," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The Australian government has asked that Corby be allowed to serve any jail sentence in Australia if convicted.
Downer denied the arrest of the nine Australians would adversely affect Corby’s case. “I don't think one case should have any bearing on other cases. I think in that context, certainly in terms of the facts of the case, the facts of every case are obviously going to be different. There's no relationship between the alleged facts in this case and the alleged facts in Schapelle Corby's case.”
He declined to mention the exact role played by Australian police in the latest arrests. “I'm not going into that but they obviously worked with the Indonesian National Police closely on this because the Australian Federal Police are tasked by the Australian government to be tough on drug trafficking,” he said.
“And there is no question of this, we feel very strongly about drug trafficking and we do everything we can as a government to try and stop it. And we expect other governments do to the same. Now, where people get involved in drug trafficking they take enormous risks, in some countries drug trafficking bring with it capital punishment. We don't support capital punishment, if Australians ever get into that situation and some Australians are involved in that some situation at the moment, we plead for clemency. And we will always do what we can to try to ensure that Australians don't get executed but nevertheless we take a very tough view on drug trafficking - there is no question about that. And we appreciate it when other countries cooperate in trying to crack down on drug trafficking around the region and for that matter around the world. It's not to condemn these nine to guilt, these people have been arrested, there is an allegation made against them and that will be heard in the fullness of time.”
Asked whether Australian police had considered allowing the drugs into Australia and then making an arrest, Downer replied: “Well, the offence was committed in Indonesia and obviously in that case where an offence is committed that jurisdiction would normally deal with that offence. Rather than, you can imagine just allowing people to escape from one jurisdiction into another jurisdiction. So where an offence is committed that's typically where charges, alleged offence is committed, that is where charges will be brought.”
He declined to reveal whether any other people than the nine Australians were involved in the case. Nor would he confirm whether the suspects were born in Australia or recent Australian citizens. “They're all Australian citizens, we don't discriminate between Australians on the basis of whether they were born, you are either an Australian or you are not an Australian, once you obtain Australian citizenship that's that.”
A spokeswoman for the Australian police said the nine are believed to be linked to a larger drug syndicate operating in Indonesia and Australia.
Indonesia has for years been a transit point for international drug smuggling syndicates due to its lax border controls, rampant corruption and poor law enforcement. Over recent years the country has also become a major destination for syndicates due to the growing number of drug users.
In an effort to combat the problem, courts have become increasingly accustomed to handing down the death sentence to foreigners convicted of drug smuggling.
Two Thai nationals convicted of smuggling 12.29 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia were executed by firing squad last October. An Indian man was executed in August for involvement in the same case.
Most of the more than 30 people now on death row in Indonesia for drug offenses are foreigners, including several Africans. Critics complain that Indonesia's notoriously corrupt courts have failed to mete out similar harsh justice to members of the military and police allegedly involved in narcotics trafficking. There are also complaints that children of powerful military officers and politicians are rarely punished, let alone put to death, for drug offenses.
Indonesia is among 90 countries that impose the death penalty. Data from Amnesty International shows that most of the world's executions are carried out by only a handful of countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US.
Indonesia has rejected calls from domestic and international human rights groups to abolish the death penalty for drug offenders. But Supreme Court chief justice Bagir Manan last Thursday proposed that the death sentence should be changed into a life sentence if a prisoner has been jailed for more than five years.