By Paul Dobbyn
“THE only hope for Myuran and Andrew, and it’s not much of a hope, is for something to come out of the left field.”
Thus Brisbane lawyer Bob Myers summarised the situation of condemned Bali Nine duo Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, who were facing the death penalty in Indonesia for drug smuggling.
“Basically we’re at the 11th hour … there’s not much time left to save these blokes,” the lawyer who has been involved with the case from the outset said.
During the past 10 years, Mr Myers has written letters to everyone “from the Pope to the Queen to Cardinal George Pell to Australia’s (prime ministers) from John Howard on, seeking their support for clemency for the Bali Nine duo since they went on death row”.
“They all say the death penalty is wrong and lately some are also saying the prisoners are good blokes who should not be executed,” Mr Myers said.
“Unfortunately, it’s becoming increasingly clear this won’t save Myuran and Andrew.”
Neither, according to Mr Myers, will economic threats such as Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop’s warning that Australians may boycott travel in Indonesia.
Indeed such a heavy-handed approach may make Indonesia more determined to carry out the executions, he said.
The “left field” approach to which Mr Myers referred was actually about finding a way for Indonesia to save face.
“There is a marvellous relationship between the Australian Federal Police and the Indonesian police – they both rely very much on exchange of information,” he said.
“I believe the key to saving the men lies in the Federal Police, or the Australian Government on their behalf, saying they acted wrongly in giving the information about the drug smugglers to the Indonesian police.
“If the AFP was to say they acted without authority and took all the blame, the Indonesian President might tell Australia to take the prisoners back, that they’ve been punished sufficiently for their crimes over the past decade.”
Mr Myers said some momentum appeared to have been building along this path, then it slowed down with the Australian Government’s recent refusal to challenge the actions of the AFP.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry early in the week invited all embassies with citizens to be executed to a meeting, and this was believed to indicate the executions were soon to take place.
Mr Myers became involved in the case in April 2005 after receiving a phone call from his friend Lee Rush who was concerned his son, then 19, may be involved with others in drug trafficking.
He then offered to contact a friend in the Australian Federal Police before Scott Rush left Australia.
However, the AFP let Scott and the others leave Australia.
Nine days later Rush, Chan, Sukumaran and six others were arrested at Bali’s Denpasar airport as they were about to return home with 8.3kg of heroin strapped to their bodies.
Scott’s former fellow Corinda-Graceville parishioner Michael Czugaj was also among those arrested.
Scott had been a student at Christ the King Primary School, Graceville, and Michael had been at St Joseph’s School, Corinda.
Scott Rush initially received life in prison. Following an appeal he was given the death sentence but eventually had his sentence cut back to life imprisonment.
Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said “the position of the Catholic Church on capital punishment has clarified over time”.
“The Church can now see no circumstances in which it can be justified morally,” he said.
“Simply because a government or legal system decides for it doesn’t make it moral.
“The Church’s position is based on an altogether different and genuine principle: the inviolable dignity of the human person created in the image and likeness of God.
“It always represents a failure of humanity, often amounting to no more than judicial murder.”
Archbishop Coleridge said “Jakarta’s decision and the resistance to all reasonable appeals for clemency does Indonesia no honour; nor will it help Indonesia’s relationship with Australia and other countries”.
“The appeals for clemency have not been driven by some soft-heartedness or acceptance of the drug trade, but by the sense that executions like these are offensive to human dignity,” he said.
“There are enough offences of that kind in the world today without governments and legal systems adding to the number – and doing so in the name of some supposed principle.
“At this point, we can pray for those facing execution and for those in power whose inhumane decision has brought them to this point.”
