SCOTT Rush’s chances of escaping the death penalty for acting as a drug courier now hinge on the deliberations of Indonesia’s Supreme Court in Jakarta.
This follows the hearing of the 24-year-old Brisbane man’s appeal against his sentence before three judges in Bali’s Denpasar District Court.
The appeal started on August 18 and concluded on October 4 with Rush’s Indonesian legal team replying to the prosecution’s demands that the death penalty be upheld.
Lawyer on Rush’s Australian legal team Bob Myers said “the appeal had gone as well as could be expected” and “the appearance of witnesses such as former Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner Mick Keelty had been worthwhile”.
However, Mr Myers said “none of this guarantees anything about the outcome”.
He said Rush’s Indonesian legal team had replied to the prosecution’s 14-page closing address.
The prosecution’s September 27 address argued, amongst other things, that death was the right punishment for drug traffickers and that the Indonesian legal system did not differentiate between couriers and organisers.
The prosecution and defence clashed about whether letters from the Australian Federal Police constituted the “new” evidence necessary to launch a reconsideration of Rush’s death penalty.
Rush was arrested at Bali’s Denpasar Air-port in April 2005 along with eight other Australians, now known as the Bali Nine, and charged with heroin smuggling.
He was found with 1.3kg of heroin strapped to his body.
Rush was initially sentenced to life imprisonment but, even though prosecutors had not asked for execution, his appeal in September 2006 to Indonesia’s Supreme Court resulted in his punishment being changed to death.
The appeal started in Denpasar District Court on August 18 when Rush’s Indonesian lawyers read the PK (motion for reconsideration) of his death penalty.
On September 16, five witnesses including Mr Keelty, AFP deputy commissioner Michael Phelan and Australian Professor Andrew Byrnes gave evidence before the three judges in support of the overturning of Rush’s death sentence.
Statements given by other witnesses raised issues of Indonesia’s obligations under international law with relation to the imposition of the death penalty and Rush’s right to a fair trial.
The three judges presiding in the Denpasar District Court will now make a recommendation to Indonesia’s Supreme Court.
It is expected to take some months before a final decision on the appeal is known.
