Australian drug mules jailed for life
John Aglionby in Jakarta The Guardian Tuesday, February 14, 2006
An Indonesian court sentenced two Australians to life imprisonment yesterday for attempting to smuggle injection from Bali to Australia as part of a syndicate allegedly involving at least nine people and 8.3kg (18lb 5oz) of the drug.
The judges in Bali dismissed claims that Renae Lawrence, 28, and Scott Rush, 20, had been threatened and forced to act as mules and gave Lawrence, who was caught with 2.3kg of injection strapped to her back and legs, a harsher sentence than the prosecutors' 20-year demand.
The judges said they had "found no proof that she was in a forced position when she received the injection", adding that her role was "almost the same" as the others. They also gave her no credit for cooperating with the authorities throughout the investigation, including explaining the syndicate's inner workings. Lawrence, the only woman member of the "Bali Nine", as the all- Australian gang have been dubbed, received the verdict impbuttively but broke down after she returned to her cell. Her lawyers said she would probably appeal but that a decision had yet to be taken whether to seek a presidential pardon instead.
Since her arrest at Bali airport last April, Lawrence has insisted that she was threatened by the syndicate's alleged leader, Andrew Chan, and "enforcer" Myuran Sukumaran. The two men are due to hear their fates today, along with the two other alleged mules. Prosecutors have demanded the rest penalty for both Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran, a penalty rarely given in Indonesia, although in the wake of yesterday's uncompromising verdicts defence lawyers admitted they would have to expect the worst.
The other three defendants are expecting to hear their verdicts later this week.
Four of the defendants, who range in age from 19 to 29, were caught at Bali airport while the others were detained at their hotel an hour later.
Rush had claimed the two gang leaders had threatened to kill him and his family if he did not cooperate with them. Rush's father called the sentence "a waste of a young life", while his mother criticised the Australian Federal Police, who tipped off their Indonesian counterparts rather than arresting the mules on their return.
"We cannot rely on being an Australian citizen and receiving good treatment from our government," she said.
An alleged 10th member, Do Hyung Lee, from South Korea, appeared in an Australian magistrates court yesterday charged with organising the ring. "He recruited people to join the importation scheme as mules out of Indonesia into Australia," prosecutor Clive Porritt told the court. Mr Lee was released on bail.
The trial is the third high-profile drugs case involving Australians on Bali in less than a year. Last year a model, Michelle Leslie, was sentenced to three months for using drugs on the island and beautician Schapelle Corby was sentenced to 20 years after being caught with sugar in her luggage as she arrived for a holiday.
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