The story of a people smuggler
Small Fry
By Ruth Balint
In November 2010, three young Indonesian men were arrested at Ashmore Reef with 37 asylum seekers on board a fishing boat. They were taken to Christmas Island, where they spent three months in the ‘Indonesian camp’ of the detention centre, and then to Darwin for another three months in immigration detention. From there the men were moved to maximum security prisons in Sydney, where they s
A People-smuggling Trial
All at Sea
By Sian Powell
A semi-literate Indonesian hired hand started thumbing the tears from his cheeks in the dock of courtroom LG2 in Sydney’s Downing Centre last April. He faced a roomful of imposing figures: two defence barristers and a crown prosecutor in black gowns, a judge resplendent in black, scarlet and lilac, an Australian Federal Police officer, two corrective services officers, and two rows of serio