Waleed Aly has listed all of the times Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were let down over the past 10 years.
In a powerful segment on The Project last night, host Waleed Aly detailed five moments Chan and Sukumaran were failed — by everyone from the Australian Federal Police, to Tony Abbott, to Indonesian authorities.
Aly, 36, pulled no punches as he described the series of mistakes and shocking failures that culminated in Chan and Sukumaran’s execution in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Related content: Vale, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.
The segment (scroll down for full video) is a must-watch. Here are the five points detailed by Aly:
1. When the case was referred to the Australian Federal Police.
In 2005, the father of Bali Nine member Scott Rush, contacted a barrister friend about the Bali Nine’s plans.
That friend told the AFP of the Bali Nine’s planned drug smuggling operation in the interest of stopping the team from traveling to Indonesia.
But rather than taking the matter into their own hands, the AFP knowingly let the group leave and alerted Indonesian authorities — while being fully aware the punishment for this crime would be “a bullet in Andrew and Myuran’s chest,” as Waleed explained.
The AFP are yet to explain this act.
Read more: Australians declare the AFP have ‘blood on their hands’ following Bali executions.
2. When a corrupt legal system failed them.
Early in Chan and Sukumaran’s trial, the judges who would eventually convict them allegedly offered Andrew and Myuran a large sum to avoid the death penalty, Waleed explained in the segment.
The deal was taken off the table for political reasons — when Indonesia’s attorney general and Supreme Court requested the pair be condemned to death, “robbing them of even the chance of a fair trial.”
3. When President Joko Widodo paid more heed to the Indonesian public than the facts of the case.
Aly next took aim at Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s “obsession” with looking tough to the Indonesian public — saying he paid little regard to the pair’s rehabilitation or the need for a fair trial.
4. When Prime Minister Tony Abbott was seen to threaten Indonesia.
Tony Abbott’s “we gave you money” gaffe earlier this year did nothing but enrage the Indonesian public.
“Let’s not forget a few years ago, when Indonesia was struck by the Indian Ocean tsunami, Australia sent a billion dollars worth of assistance,” Mr Abbott warned Indonesia in February.
The statement was perceived by Indonesians as a threat; a suggestion that our generous aid came with strings attached.
“Now don’t get me wrong, the Australian government did everything they could to save Andrew and Sukumaran,” Waleed said of the incident. “But that was the fourth time they were let down.”
Related content: Celebrities plead: ‘Save our boys, Mr Abbott.’
5. When the pair were told their spiritual advisers would no longer be present in their final hours.
Finally, in their final days, Chan and Sukumaran were inexplicably denied the spiritual guides they requested prior to their execution. Other prisoners were not subject to the same decision.
The move, according to Aly, was “so provocative, it was so pathetic, and so pointless.”
While the pair’s chosen advisers were ultimately allowed to be present, by that stage the damage was already done: it was a final act of indignity that Chan and Sukumaran’s loved ones will never forget.
“Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were guilty men, they were criminals, they were ringleaders in an operation to smuggle drugs into this country,” Waleed concluded. “But they were also let down, time and again, right up until their final hours.”
Watch the segment here:
Read more:
The world reacts to the executions.
Myuran Sukumaran has painted a moving tribute to the Indonesian President.
The TV moment that left us all in disbelief last night.
This is what the world could lose in 72 hours.
‘A heroin overdose killed by brother. But I stand for Mercy.’
Australian celebrities plead: “Save our boys, Mr Abbott.”
The self-portrait that says more than a thousand words about how it feels to face death.
“My life is an absolute waste”: A letter from Andrew Chan
Related content: Julie Bishop – “Myuran and Andrew deserve to live.”
Related: Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran say goodbye to their families.
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Top Comments
No one has remembered that some years ago we wouldn't allow a American convicted for murder here in Australia who served prison time in Queensland to be extradicted to the United States for re-trial (some years ago) because of their death penalty. He was only released to the FBI on the undertaking that he would not be put to death. This is in our law. So what the Federal police have done to Andrew and Myuran is really a breach of this law and a crime for which those police who are responsible for tipping of the Indonesian police should be arrested. This one point Waleed missed, but I agree with everything else he has said.
Has any one tried to count the times these two could have changed their minds and saved their own lives ? The federal police have to inform other countries if they have knowledge of a potential crime being committed in that country. It's the same international obligation that resulted in the U.K. police telling our police of a potential terrorist plot a few weeks ago.
Indonesia is a sovereign country. As Australian citizens in Australia, we have no say in their politics or laws. And they have no say in ours. If you are in another country you are subject to the laws of that country. You commit a crime there, you get punished there. Waving your hand and saying I'm an Aussie, treat me differently will not work.
The only point here where they were let down, is the refusal of spiritual counsel.
But which ever way you look at it capital punishment is cruel and barbaric ,no doubt about it.
Why the refusal of spiritual counsel, though? The Indonesian Attorney-General was very quick to come out and say that the "Bali 9 executions more perfect" http://www.smh.com.au/world... Really? And we're supposed to take the word of a corrupt government? But does that mean that the execution of a mentally ill patsy was less perfect?
I don't know why that was refused. It seems unnecessarily cruel. But Indonesia is still a sovereign state, corrupt or not. If you travel to a corrupt country you are still bound by it's laws. It doesn't stop people travelling to Indonesia or other countries in South East Asia, many of which are worse off for corruption.
Perhaps it was so that there would not be a reliable witness who could testify to the "cruel and barbaric" way in which the death penalty is administered. I have seen at least three different versions of the actual time it took them to die (ranging from 3-35 minutes) I believe none of them.