Hopes of death sentence reprieve for Scott Rush rest on evidence he was bit player

THE Australian Federal Police may have got Bali Nine drug courier Scott Rush into his dire death row fix but in a bittersweet irony it may be the AFP that eventually gets him out of it.

An Asian law expert close to the young man's experienced Indonesian and Australian legal team told The Courier-Mail yesterday the case for his final appeal against his death sentence was "strong".

"I've read the (appeal) papers. They're very thorough and very detailed - I would call it a strong case, which, if it is treated properly, should have pretty good prospects of success," the director of the University of Melbourne's Asian Law Centre, Professor Tim Lindsey, said.

The Denpasar District Court yesterday indicated a panel of three judges would begin hearing the appeal, known as a judicial review, on August 18.

The appeal pushes for a 15-year sentence for Rush, one of nine Australians convicted over a 2005 plot to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin out of Bali.

Prof Lindsey said under the "new circumstances" heading in the judicial review was the evidence provided by former head of the AFP Mick Keelty and deputy commissioner Michael Phelan.

This stated that Rush, who was 19 when he was arrested by Indonesian authorities at Denpasar Airport in April 2005 with 1.3kg of heroin, played only a small role in the drug trafficking operation.

"Their evidence is unequivocal he was a minor player in the exercise and a minor mule in the process, so (the legal team) are saying that, if this evidence had been taken into account previously, Scott would have got a lighter sentence," Prof Lindsey said.

The evidence of the two men was valuable because the AFP had "very good standing in Indonesia" and Mr Keelty was very well regarded.

The AFP has been heavily criticised for exposing the Bali Nine to possible death sentences by tipping off Indonesia instead of arresting them when they returned to Australia with the drugs.

Rush's case also deals with his inconsistent sentencing. He is one of three of the Bali Nine still on death row and the only courier. The other two, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, allegedly coordinated the Bali Nine while in Indonesia.

As well, the appeal raises his alleged entrapment by police, who did not arrest him when they knew he was in possession of the drugs but allowed him to travel to the airport so that he was charged with the more serious crime of exporting drugs.

Rush's Australian-based solicitor, Robert Welfare, said he would ask Mr Phelan to go to Bali to give evidence at the hearing.

Yesterday Sukumaran and Chan gave The Courier-Mail a sneak preview of paintings they and other prisoners are doing for an art exhibition later this month.

The prisoners are in a twice-weekly art class being run inside Kerobokan Jail by art teacher Sandy Elliott, who is on leave from a Brisbane school.

Source: couriermail.com.au, August 5, 2010

Scott Rush's parents await death sentence appeal date

Scott Rush

THE parents of Bali Nine drug mule Scott Rush are on tenterhooks, awaiting confirmation the hearing of their son's appeal against his death sentence will begin on August 18.

The Courier-Mail understands that is the date set by the District Court in Denpasar for the 24-year-old's judicial appeal which was lodged on July 16.

Scott's father, Lee Rush, said on Tuesday he had not yet been advised of the hearing date.

"If I can get confirmation of that, we'll be booking our tickets tonight," he said.

Mr Rush said he'd spent several weeks in Bali in June and July in anticipation of his son's appeal being lodged.

Unfortunately, with the date for the filing of the appeal documents being pushed back, he'd not been able to be with his son when the day finally arrived.

"We were home in Brisbane when the appeal was filed," the Brisbane father said.

"The word I get from the consulate though is Scott is very happy that it's been filed and that, at last, after all the waiting, something is happening."

Mr Rush said developments in his son's case, including news the former head of the Australian Federal Police, Mick Keelty, and the AFP deputy commissioner, Michael Phelan, were supporting his son's appeal were "heartening".

According to reports, a letter written by Mr Keelty states the young Brisbane man, who was just 19 when he was apprehended at Denpasar Airport in April 2005 with around 1.3kg of heroin strapped to his body, was no more than a courier in the operation.

"There is no indication that Scott was an organiser or aware of the scale of the organisation behind the volume of drug importation," Mr Keelty's letter, which will be used as evidence in the appeal, reportedly says.

The AFP has been criticised for not apprehending the Bali Nine when they returned to Australia.

By instead tipping off Indonesian authorities, who found 8.3kg of heroin among the group, they exposed them all to possible death sentences.

Scott Rush is one of only three of the Bali Nine still facing death by firing squad and the only minor player.

The two others on death row, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were the alleged masterminds of the operation.

Three district court judges will hear the appeal after which they will prepare a report and forward it, together with copies of all the evidence tendered, to the Supreme Court in Jakarta which will determine Scott Rush's fate.

If this appeal fails, the only avenue remaining for the young man is a plea for clemency to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is on the record numerous times saying he will not pardon drug traffickers.

Source: couriermail.com.au, August 5, 2010