why shouldn't they

Am I missing something here? And tell me if you think I am wrong. But what is all the kafuffle about the AFP – the Australian Federal Police – and the fact that they alerted authorities in Indonesia that a heroin smuggling operation involving nine Australians was about to go down in Bali?

Why shouldn’t they. If Indonesian Police had information that a crime was about to committed here in Australia should they not tell our authorities?

The Herald Sun today has an accusatory story out of Denpasar that says in part: “The Australian Federal Police tipped off Indonesian authorities at least a week before the arrest of the Bali Nine, a court was told yesterday”. So? Isn’t that their job.

The original tip-off apparently came from the father of one of the alleged mules. And it is the subject of a bizarre legal action in Darwin. Wasn’t it the father’s job to warn his son that he had alerted the authorities? Wasn’t it the father’s duty to try to convince his son not to go on a heroin run that, if caught, could cost him his life?

(That of course ignores the fact that the heroin bound for Australia could cost a lot of other people their lives).

I find sheeting the blame home to Australian Police absolutely weird. Talk about grasping at straws. If the Police had confronted the so-called mule and he had said he was a tourist going to Bali for a holiday then what could they have done?  If they had detained him on suspicion that he was about to embark on an international flight with a potential crime being committed at the other end the civil libertarians would have gone ape.

The other argument is that the AFP should have remained silent and waited until the heroin smugglers got back on to Australian soil.  Yeah, sure. Just ignore a crime they knew was being committed. And what if back in Australia they couldn’t mop up all nine? Or they arrested the mules who had already had the heroin removed from their bodies. What crime would they charge them with?

Much is being made of the fact that the arrested alleged drug smugglers could face a firing squad if convicted. Well, any Australian who doesn’t know that Indonesia has a brutal anti-drug policy must have been hiding under a rock for the year of the Schapelle Corby headlines. Or the recent Michelle Leslie ecstasy headlines. And that’s for pot and pills.  Not more than eight kilos of heroin.

This is a classic case of “shoot the messenger”. The AFP is not to blame. People are trying to use the force as scapegoats and red herrings.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2005