GUILTY Bali - Bali Nine, Australians arrested for heroin trafficking, 2005

[emirates1957]

Can this be true???

The OTHER evil plot by the Bali Nine kingpin: Five days before 'God-fearing' Andrew Chan was arrested, two teenage drug mules were caught in Hong Kong with heroin-filled condoms
Bali Nine kingpin Andrew Chan masterminded another overseas heroin deal that went wrong
Rachel Diaz, 17, of Sydney, was arrested with two others in a Hong Kong hotel
Diaz, a trainee hairdresser, and Chris Vo, then 15, were due to swallow 114 heroin-filled condoms when police raided their hotel room
Chan sent threats from Kerobokan jail to Diaz's Hong Kong prison cell, telling her to keep her 'mouth shut'
Chan set up at least 17 young Australians who were arrest on heroin charges
He was part of a 'predatory crime syndicate' which recruited young people as drug mules


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-Hong-Kong-jail-mouth-shut.html#ixzz3YgncXjsL
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

That might be correct.

 

[YidArmyRach]

It is no secret what the punishment in Indonesia for this particular crime is, but they chose to go ahead and do it anyway. Do the crime, do the time. And in this case the time is execution.

Put it this way, if an Indonesian came here and committed a crime the penalty for which was death, would you be saying he should be spared just because he is Indonesian?

Isn't the penalty for murder also the death penalty? Yet the authorities happily downgraded this to 10 years for Heather Mack, after her mother was beaten to death and dumped in a suitcase. And without showing any remorse in the months afterwards. Who knows if the fact she had a very large trust fund had anything to do with this (but we can all make assumptions).

Has every drug smuggler/drug mule found guilty been put to death? No they haven't. Some have received very light sentences indeed. Some of the people running these operations have avoided jail, whilst the people at the very bottom of the chain, get the DP. How can that be fair?

I agree that the two Australian men were not very nice people at the time of their conviction, and I think they have ruined the lives of many people - from the young kids they encouraged and recruited to do these drug runs (who now have an entire life in prison), to their own families and the families of their mules.

However, they were given 10 years to rehabilitate, and it is clear they did. Even if it was all done to avoid the DP (I personally don't think this is the case), I feel their lives would have been far better spent continuing the good work they were doing. When the prison guards and people in charge speak out to say that many prisoners relied on these men to get through their sentences, then killing them seems counter productive to me and, in this case, reeked of "revenge" rather than "justice".

 

[SouthAussie]

Andrew and Myuran are now in Jakarta. Their families are on their way there, accompanied by Aussie officials. They will then bring their boys home.

They are likely to leave Jakarta tomorrow (Thursday) and arrive home on Friday.

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2015/...chan-in-execution-over-drug-smuggling-charges
http://www.smh.com.au/world/bali-ni...han-and-myuran-sukumaran-20150429-1mwadc.html

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Can this be true???

The OTHER evil plot by the Bali Nine kingpin: Five days before 'God-fearing' Andrew Chan was arrested, two teenage drug mules were caught in Hong Kong with heroin-filled condoms
Bali Nine kingpin Andrew Chan masterminded another overseas heroin deal that went wrong
Rachel Diaz, 17, of Sydney, was arrested with two others in a Hong Kong hotel
Diaz, a trainee hairdresser, and Chris Vo, then 15, were due to swallow 114 heroin-filled condoms when police raided their hotel room
Chan sent threats from Kerobokan jail to Diaz's Hong Kong prison cell, telling her to keep her 'mouth shut'
Chan set up at least 17 young Australians who were arrest on heroin charges
He was part of a 'predatory crime syndicate' which recruited young people as drug mules


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-Hong-Kong-jail-mouth-shut.html#ixzz3YgncXjsL
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Yes, this is true as far as I know, in years past when media had a completely different attitude to these guys this was the tone of the stories and I remember reading this. The media have been blatantly FOS on this whole situation IMO, it's laughable the way they are pandering and attempting to manipulate the public, for years vilifying AC and MS, then to do a complete 180 and elevate them to martyr status .. neither is true, no way were these two as evil as portrayed for the first 10 years since they were caught, and equally no way are they as saintly as they are being portrayed now, the truth, as always lies in the middle, I'd prefer to read the truth, but I don't think we'll get that for awhile from our media, if ever.

 

[Brightbird]

Of course Andrew and Myuran were involved in the drug trade before the fateful trip to Bali. I think that's kind of a prerequisite for overseeing an international smuggling operation. But I'll never understand people who think drug dealing/smuggling should be a death penalty crime, so it's a moot point to me anyway.

 

[Brightbird]

It is no secret what the punishment in Indonesia for this particular crime is, but they chose to go ahead and do it anyway. Do the crime, do the time. And in this case the time is execution.

Put it this way, if an Indonesian came here and committed a crime the penalty for which was death, would you be saying he should be spared just because he is Indonesian?

I don't understand. If an Indonesian came here and committed a crime, there would be no death penalty.

 

[SouthAussie]

Yes, this is true as far as I know, in years past when media had a completely different attitude to these guys this was the tone of the stories and I remember reading this. The media have been blatantly FOS on this whole situation IMO, it's laughable the way they are pandering and attempting to manipulate the public, for years vilifying AC and MS, then to do a complete 180 and elevate them to martyr status .. neither is true, no way were these two as evil as portrayed for the first 10 years since they were caught, and equally no way are they as saintly as they are being portrayed now, the truth, as always lies in the middle, I'd prefer to read the truth, but I don't think we'll get that for awhile from our media, if ever.

I completely get what you are saying Mrs G. But I think that the media was trying hard to present the rehabilitated side of Andrew and Myuran over the last 10 years and the good that they did - and not focus on the old back story - in our efforts to save their lives. Indonesia was watching our press closely, and jumping on anything negative as our full agreement that killing Andrew and Myuran was the right thing to do (remember the first Triple J poll).

I emailed a senator who made unhelpful comments in the party room that were published in MSM, and asked him if he could please refrain from the public comments until the matter was resolved. It was counter-productive to saving Andrew and Myuran's lives. There is a time and place for everything, and that was not the time.

Now that it is all over, more back story will probably be told - for those that are interested.

I am okay with that, as long as it is respectful of the families and not filled with Daily-Mail-style sensationalism and embellishment.

.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Australian advocacy ruined most arguments for a Bali 9 duo reprieve

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/com...or-a-bali-9-duo-reprieve-20150429-1mw57t.html

Logical, balanced, intelligent article .. I nearly fell off my chair.

 

[SouthAussie]

A photo of Indonesian president Joko Widodo has been removed from public display at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in Canberra after the executions of the Bali Nine ringleaders.

"My feeling yesterday, on Wednesday morning, was that in view of the circumstances and our operations, and my best assessment of the risk of damage to the work of art, it was necessary to remove it from public display," he [gallery director Angus Trumble] said.

"Also, I was swayed by the statements of both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, and of course the position of the parliament and the recall of our ambassador."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-...removes-photo-of-indonesian-president/6434752

 

[SouthAussie]

Bali nine executions: Australia may have to simply ride out the next four years under Joko Widodo ....

The normally mildly spoken Kevin Andrews emerged on Wednesday as the mouthpiece for the government's frustrations, saying the fact the executions were announced on Anzac Day and the treatment of the two men and their families "reeks of a calculated snub at Australia" that would be a "very serious miscalculation on the behalf of the leadership of Indonesia".

.... the president [Widodo] is completely under the thumb of elder stateswoman Megawati Soekarnoputri. Megawati has always had a prickly relationship with Australia and, in her own unremarkable term as president, saw more mileage in kicking her neighbour than working with it.

At this stage, the same appears to be true of Joko. And that is what is deeply concerning Australia's foreign policy community.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...-years-under-joko-widodo-20150430-1mwml4.html

 

[they'll get you]

You should read Snowing in Bali, TGY. The mules are not duped. They choose to make these runs for a once-in-a-lifetime (or more) big cash payout. The 'standover men' are only there to make sure they conceal the drugs in the best way possible to avoid detection (there are lots of tricks to that), and that the drugs make it to the financer and not to somewhere else - because nobody gets paid until the drugs arrive safely. Very few mules actually get caught, which is why they choose to take the risk. Hundreds of successful international drug runs, through multiple countries, are made very frequently.

The reason Andrew and Myuran did not reveal who their 'Mr Big' (the financer) was, is because great harm can come to their own families for doing so. They also advise the mules to be quiet so no harm comes to the mules' families either.

I need to get the book SA but Chris Vo was only 15 years old which is in my eyes only a child.

 

[SouthAussie]

I need to get the book SA but Chris Vo was only 15 years old which is in my eyes only a child.

I agree, very young to be a drug mule. But I don't believe that Chris Vo or Rachel Diaz were linked to anyone in the Bali 9.


"Diaz, a trainee hairdresser, and Vo, who like many teenagers worked briefly for McDonald's, are a rarity in the human drug mule smuggling game - innocent-looking cleanskins.

When first caught, federal police examined the group for a possible connection to the nine Australian's arrested in Bali but have since discounted any connection."

http://www.theage.com.au/news/natio...e-stiff-penalty/2005/06/24/1119321904306.html

 

[SouthAussie]

"The Indonesian people and government express our sympathies to the families and friends of the deceased," a statement from the Indonesian embassy on Thursday night said.
The statement comes as Indonesia prepares for a third group of executions later this year. :gaah:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/indones...han-and-myuran-sukumaran-20150430-1mxca7.html

 

[Alice Bernadette]

I don't agree with the death penalty. I don't understand how people can be civilised and agree with the death penalty. It is strange that a society will punish violent crime by then committing state sanctioned violence against the perpetrators. I can't fathom that sort of logic.

If Andrew and Myuran were arrested in Australia they would have been freed years ago. They had spent 10 years in jail and I think any debt owing to society was paid. If they were freed they could have be used to educate people on the dangers of getting involved in drugs and done a lot of good.

The demand for drugs is so strong that even with the death penalty in SE Asia there will be others who will smuggle drugs because it is so lucrative. Drug use is not going to change with these executions because the problem is with our society. Drug dealers are only there because of the demand.

What on earth was the Australian Federal Police thinking when they tipped off the Indonesian Police in this case?

 

[keyleigh]

While I know it's news.com.au, this article says how Indonesians feel. Just lovely :gaah:

http://www.news.com.au/travel/trave...r-boycott-threat/story-e6frfq80-1227328416079

Pretty sure that those of us calling for a boycott have managed to keep the personal insults out of it and direct our anger at the government. This? Yeah not so much.

 

[ellie b]

I don't agree with the death penalty. I don't understand how people can be civilised and agree with the death penalty. It is strange that a society will punish violent crime by then committing state sanctioned violence against the perpetrators. I can't fathom that sort of logic.

If Andrew and Myuran were arrested in Australia they would have been freed years ago. They had spent 10 years in jail and I think any debt owing to society was paid. If they were freed they could have be used to educate people on the dangers of getting involved in drugs and done a lot of good.

The demand for drugs is so strong that even with the death penalty in SE Asia there will be others who will smuggle drugs because it is so lucrative. Drug use is not going to change with these executions because the problem is with our society. Drug dealers are only there because of the demand.

What on earth was the Australian Federal Police thinking when they tipped off the Indonesian Police in this case?

Agree with this so much Alice, the UN must change their protocol on drugs. This "war on drugs" does not work. There are more people taking drugs than ever before and it is probably the most lucrative trade in the world...the law has made it so. The death penalty changes nothing and is barbaric.

 

[gitana1]

Does this mean we'll be withdrawing our ambassador from the USA too? Oh, we're not? Okie dokey then .. we are so full of BS it's embarrassing.

When the US is as corrupt as Indonesia, allows people to escape justice by straight bribes, executes people for drug offenses rather than only 1st degree murder and executes reformed drug smugglers while allowing premeditated murderers who visciously and barbarically beat an innocent woman to death so they could access her money, escape with only ten and 18 years, while flipping reporters off and smugly getting drunk in the holding tank, then Australia will have reason to remove its ambassador.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

We can agree to disagree on which citizens of what country decide to impose the DP for, frankly I think it's barbaric for any reason. Our politicians are being hypocrites and playing silly buggers with us in regards to this issue, and I believe this is not the message they should be sending the Australian public right now.

 

[SouthAussie]

I don’t know about anyone else, but I see this as a matter of two rehabilitated Australians being subject to the death penalty in a country where they claim that rehabilitation is the aim of their prisons. They gave Andrew and Myuran 10 years in which to grow, mature, and rehabilitate … then a new President comes in and kills them.

I also see the refusals to return the calls of our PM, the announcement of the date of the killings on our 100th Anzac Day, and the failure to officially notify our government of the completed killings, as a direct snub to our government.

I believe this is the way our government sees it, and I agree. It is not the way a ‘friendly’ country acts toward another ‘friendly’ country. I just don’t see any hypocrisy, except on the Indonesian part.

This is not about the death penalty in general. This is about killing two rehabilitated men. Men who just as easily could have remained in their prisons for life, and continued to do good for all.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

The ACU has created a scholarship named after the Bali duo .. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/hig...ustralian&utm_medium=Facebook#social-comments The comments under the article are worth a look at.