Friday, October 28, 2005

AFP sacrifices drug couriers

so it appear that the Australian Federal Police sent a letter shopping the Bali 9 to the Indonesian police, effectively sentencing to a likely death. From The Age (26/10/05):

It was a crime not yet committed but with terrible consequences if it was discovered in Indonesia: the death penalty.

Yet on April 8, the Australian Federal Police wrote to their Indonesian counterparts outlining in extraordinary detail what would take place.

They named the alleged ringleader, Andrew Chan. And they told the Indonesians: "If you suspect Chan and/or the couriers are carrying drugs at the time of their departure, please take whatever action you deem necessary."

Given that Australia opposes the death penalty, this is, well, remarkable. Why not pick them up when they re-enter Australia if the AFP were able to track them so well? Poor dumb 28 year-old Renee Lawrence ( and the other hapless couriers) may, instead of serving 10 years or so in an Australian jail, have her life ended when court-ordered bullets tear through her heart and brain in Indonesia.