The AFP explain why they referred the Bali Nine case to Indonesian authorities.

The Australian Federal Police explain why they referred the Bali Nine case to Indonesian authorities.

Following the execution of Australian nationals Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran last week, anger quickly turned to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) — with politicians and social media users alike questioning why the authority referred the Bali Nine case to Indonesian authorities, knowing drug crimes carry the death penalty in that country.

Read more: AFP under fire following the execution of Chan and Sukumaran.

Today, the AFP spoke for the first time about its referral of the case to Indonesia — refusing to apologise, and emphasising that the authority simply didn’t have enough information to arrest the Bali Nine prior to the group’s departure from Australia.

Commissioner Andrew Colvin refused to apologise to Chan and Sukumaran’s families for the AFP’s actions.

“I don’t believe we owe them an apology,” he said. “It’s a very difficult question. I mean, we can’t apologise for the role that we have to try to stop illicit drugs from coming into this community.”

Instead, he announced that he wished to “give the public enough information, the right information, so that they can make informed decisions”.

He also emphasised that the AFP was not in a position to arrest the Bali Nine before they travelled to Indonesia.

“We didn’t know everybody involved, we didn’t know the organisers, we didn’t know all the plans… we were not in a position to arrest any of the members of the Bali Nine prior to their departure from Australia…”Commissioner Colvin said.

He added that the AFP’s decision was “consistent with the guidelines as they existed then”.

Commissioner Colvin also took a swipe at the media coverage of the Bali Nine, pointing out “that relatively little media attention was given to the other Australians prosecuted here in Australia” as a direct result” of the AFP’s actions and Indonesian intervention after they landed in Bali.

“Had that not occurred, those prosecutions may never well have taken place,” he said.

He added that references to the AFP having “blood on its hands” and a cartoon depicting the AFP as a firing squad were in “very bad taste”.

Addressing the issue of whether the AFP could take a similar course of action in future, he added: “I wish I could assure you that this scenario could never happened again, but I cannot.

“The reality is while Australians travel overseas to countries with the death penalty that possibility still remains that those participating in crimes will be exposed to it.”

Commissioner Colvin added that he hoped Chan and Sukumaran’s executions would make people think twice about participating in crime.

“This is a tragic reminder of the risks to Australians travelling overseas and participating in serious crimes,” he said. “I hope other lives will be saved by people now thinking twice.”

Deputy Commissioner Mike Phelan then spoke of the AFP’s decision to tip off Indonesia, saying it was made “in full knowledge that they may be exposing Chan and Sukumaran to the death penalty.”

“We knew Indonesia would take their own course of action if Bali Nine was found with drugs,” he said.

He added that, contrary to media reports, the AFP made no assurance to Lee Rush, Scott Rush’s father, that the group would be stopped before they left Australia.

“Had Scott Rush’s father made no contact with the  AFP there would be absolutely no difference,” he said.

He explained that there were three different airport alerts linked to Rush: a call from his father, an anonymous tip via Crimestoppers, and an alert linked to the arrest of a person in Bali.

Mr Myers recalled in an article for news.com.au last week that he told the authority of the Bali Nine’s plans in 2005, in an effort to prevent Rush from committing a crime. To his disbelief, he wrote, the AFP used that information to alert Indonesian authorities – a move that ultimately lead to Chan and Sukumaran’s death.

Related content: ‘Boycott Indonesia’: The world reacts to the executions of two Australian men.

“I find it difficult to accept that a Government who has now, and had then, in place strict guidelines in relation to cooperation with our foreign neighbours, where there was a risk of the imposition of the death penalty, cannot now approach such a friendly nation and ally and seek, in the light of the complete disregard and disobedience of such Guidelines, a return of these nine citizens to Australia to be dealt with in accordance with Australian law,”  Mr Myers wrote.

“There was no justification for the actions of the Police in this instance.”

Former diplomat Bruce Haigh also said the AFP’s involvement in the execution “needs investigation”.

“The AFP…  should have done everything in their power to overturn this outcome. But they didn’t because their writ is to deal with the corrupt Indonesian police, naval and army personnel to prevent boats coming to Australia,” Haigh wrote for news.com.au.

“They are embedded; they are almost part of the system,” he added.

Angry Australians last week took to social media to express their disgust.

“They have blood on their hands,” Mark (@WorldofMarkyD) tweeted.

“The Australian Federal Police has the blood of two Australians on its hands today,” Leo D’Angelo Fisher (@DAngeloFisher) weighed in.

Some of the backlash on social media:

Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer also announced last week he would sponsor a bill, the Foreign Death Penalty Offences Act of 2015, that would make it an offence for Australian authorities to refer drug smuggling cases to countries that may impose the death penalty.

“This act, I think, will play a critical role in ensuring that these things don’t happen again,” Mr Palmer said.

“We can’t do much for the people that have lost their lives or their families, but we can ensure that they are like a beacon of hope for those who go after them to ensure this doesn’t happen again and Australian public servants or officer we employ with taxpayer’s money do carry out their duties in the best interests of Australians.”

Do you blame the AFP for Chan and Sukumaran’s execution?