By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania
DENPASAR, Indonesia – In a final attempt to avoid the death penalty, ‘Bali Nine’ drug mule Scott Rush made an emotional appeal to an Indonesian court on Thursday.
“I wish to say to you, my parents, my family, and the community, how sorry I am for the crime that I have committed and the pain that I have caused,” Rush told Denpasar’s District Court on Thursday.
Rush was nineteen years old when he was arrested at Denpasar airport with more than a kilogram of heroin strapped to his body. He was convicted of attempting to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin from Bali into Australia. Originally sentenced to life in prison, Indonesia’s Supreme Court unexpectedly increased his penalty to death.
Rush’s parents flew from Brisbane to Indonesia last week to be there for the appeal.
“It’s been extremely stressful for him to have this death penalty on his head,” Lee Rush, Scott’s father said. “We just tend to get on with life on a day-to-day basis, but I know we struggle with it as well, as parents.”
At his appeal on Thursday, Rush, dressed in a white collared shirt and adorned with a crucifix necklace, read out his statement in court, not shying away from his fear of death.
“I often wake up having nightmares. I often think about the firing squad and how long it will take me to die,” Rush said. He said that he has had a long time to think, having already spent five and a half years in Bali’s Kerobokan Prison, two of which were spent in the prison’s death tower.
“I pray that I may be given a chance to show my remorse and to give back to the community in a practical way. I would like to be an ambassador against drugs. I am a living example of how drugs can destroy lives and do cause family and friends so much unnecessary pain and distress,” Rush added.
His legal team has argued that he played a minor role as a courier and was not the mastermind of the operation, relying on letters from former Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner Mick Keelty, who said that Rush was just a courier and not an organizer. Rush’s lawyers said that Keelty’s letters were not considered at Rush’s trial.
If this final appeal fails, Rush’s last chance will be to seek clemency from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is notorious for showing no mercy to drug smugglers.
For more information, please see:
ABC News – Scott Rush in final death sentence appeal – 26 August 2010
Sky News – Rush’s final appeal resumes – 26 August 2010
Sydney Morning Herald – Drug mule Scott Rush pleads for his life – 26 August 2010
Sydney Morning Herald – Scott Rush’s final appeal to resume – 25 August 2010
ABC News – Bali Nine smuggler’s parents fly out for appeal – 9 August 2010
