Scott Rush (left), the youngest member of the Bali Nine, is pleading for forgiveness while the Indonesian Supreme Court continues to deliberate upon the heroin smuggler’s motion to reconsider his death sentence.
The Bali Nine is a nickname for nine people arrested in Denpasar, Bali on April 17, 2005 in an attempt to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia.
In a handwritten letter sent to Australian Parliament member Chris Hayes, Rush expressed remorse, especially for causing his parents “hurt and pain”.
“I have been here over 5 years now. I have experienced a lot,” he wrote.
He also expressed his willingness to change if his motion was granted, writing that he hoped to have the chance to prove he was capable of reform.
“I want to give back to my community and be an ambassador against drugs,” he wrote in the letter, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post.
Rush, then 19, was sentenced to death in 2006 by the Supreme Court. He now resides in Kerobokan Prison, Denpasar, which he called “Death Tower” in his letter.
Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran also received death sentences; the remaining six were sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
Rush wrote the letter on July 16 — the same day his attorneys submitted a motions to reconsider his death sentence to Indonesia’s Supreme Court through the Denpasar District Court. The letter reflected his tension in waiting for the court’s decision.
“I cannot sleep,” he said.
The appeal requested that his death sentence be commuted to a sentence of 15 years to life imprisonment. It also said Rush’s sentence was unfair when compared to other Bali Nine members who received lighter sentences and ignored mitigating factors such as Rush’s cooperation with police, his young age and remorse, as previously reported.
“So this is my last chance to write to you before I know whether I live or die,” he wrote.
Rush expressed his gratitude to former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd and senators Barnaby Joyce and Gary Humphries.
Rush concluded the letter by asking for people to pray for him.
“I continue to pray every night and day,” he finished.
The Indonesian government has said that it was very serious about drug smuggling and in its handling of the three Bali Nine members sentenced to death.
It said it was also aware that the international community was monitoring the case closely and the court’s ruling would focus on fairness.
Local and foreign observers expressed doubts on the court’s ability to arrive at a fair verdict given the country’s incapable and corrupt judicial system, which is notorious for its controversial and confusing rulings.
District and high court prosecutors asked for a life sentence for Rush, which was augmented to a death sentence by the Supreme Court.
Australian Federal police deputy to testify for Rush
Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner Mick Phelan is due to travel to Bali to testify on behalf of convicted drug mule Scott Rush, who is facing an Indonesian firing squad.
Lawyers for Rush are launching his last legal appeal in Denpasar District Court today in a bid to overturn his death sentence.
They are asking for a 15-year prison term to be applied and are beginning a legal process that should, within months, determine the fate of the Brisbane man.
Rush was 19 and on his first overseas trip when he was caught with heroin strapped to his body at Bali's international airport in 2005.
He was one of nine Australians in the syndicate, known as the Bali nine, nabbed by Indonesian authorities.
Among the evidence tendered today was a letter from Mr Phelan, who was head of the federal police's international crime division at the time, and another from former federal police commissioner Mick Keelty.
Mr Phelan is listed as a witness and is scheduled to come to Bali to testify in an extraordinary development, lawyers for Rush said.
Rush's arrest in 2005 came after the federal police alerted Indonesian police to the planned smuggling operation.
The federal police had, controversially, ignored a plea by Rush's father, Lee Rush, to stop his son from leaving before his departure.
Mr Rush had suspected his son, who was using drugs and had become highly unreliable, was up to "no good" and did not have the money to go to Bali.
The actions of the federal police sparked widespread criticism amid claims the Bali nine could have been arrested in Australia and avoided the death penalty.
The federal government is understood to have put pressure on the federal police to do all it can to achieve a positive result for Rush.
The episode is understood to haunt Mr Keelty, a devout Christian who personally opposes the death penalty and has now retired.
In a letter written when he still headed the federal police, Mr Keelty said Rush "was not previously known to the AFP" and was only a "courier".
"There is no indication that Scott was an organiser or aware of the scale of the organisation behind the volume of drug importations," he said.
A similar letter was provided by Mr Phelan. His testimony and both statements are pivotal to Rush's case, which rests in part on proving Rush was a minor player in the syndicate. Importantly, the letters constitute new evidence, one of the conditions for launching a final appeal, known as a judicial review.
The comprehensive legal argument cites numerous "manifest" errors in the judgment that led to Rush seeing his sentence increased from life to death on an earlier appeal.
It argues that mitigating factors such as Rush's co-operation with police, his youth, his remorse and his minor role in the smuggling ring were ignored while the judges wrongly said a death sentence was the only one that could be applied in such cases.
It points out that other members of the Bali nine who played the same role were given lighter sentences, including Renae Lawrence, who was given a 20-year prison term and who has also provided a statement in support of Rush.
The submission argues the death penalty, under Indonesian law, should only be used selectively and for the most serious offences.
"We seek a lesser punishment of 15 years' imprisonment which is more proportionate to his role as a courier, his young age, his demonstrated remorse, and all the mitigating circumstances of the offence and the offender," the submission for Rush said.
With the long awaited legal process for Rush now in train, the court is likely to hear testimony from witnesses and prosecutors before the evidence is sent to Jakarta for a panel of Supreme Court judges to decide.
The outcome could have a significant bearing on similar appeals against the death penalty from two other members of the Bali nine, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, also expected this year.
If the appeals fail, the three have one last go at avoiding death by firing squad, a direct request to Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for clemency.
Five others - Matthew Norman, Martin Stephens, Michael Czugaj, Si Yi Chen and Tan Duc Than Nguyen - are serving life sentences. They are also planning fresh appeals.
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