"But Colonel AS Reniban said the AFP had needed the cooperation of Indonesian police to mount a surveillance operation and authorities in Bali would not have allowed the nine to board their flight to Australia."
"Mr Downer said the government would appeal for clemency for the nine if they were found guilty at trial, as it had already done for accused marijuana trafficker Schapelle Corby. "
Australia 'exporting death penalty' By Rob Taylor in Jakarta April 19, 2005 From: AAP
CIVIL libertarian groups in Australia have demanded the federal government clarify whether it is "exporting the death penalty to other countries" after Australian Federal Police (AFP) tipped off Indonesian authorities about the alleged trafficking ring. "What has to be answered by the federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison is why were these people the subject of an arrest in Indonesia where it's already been said quite categorically that if found guilty, no question, they will be executed," Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman said.
But Colonel AS Reniban said the AFP had needed the cooperation of Indonesian police to mount a surveillance operation and authorities in Bali would not have allowed the nine to board their flight to Australia.
"All smugglers here must be arrested," he said.
"We will not let them go. If we have them, then we will catch them."
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the alleged offences were committed in Indonesia and its police had to be involved.
"For nine people to be arrested, certainly in my nine years as the foreign minister, there has never been a situation like that before," he told the Nine Network.
Colonel Reniban said Indonesian police were not being obstructive, but needed to arrest the nine in case they revealed more about drug network operations in Indonesia.
"The problem is not that we're happy to catch them, but we have to reveal the next links, the next network," he said.
"We need to know how they get that stuff into Indonesia."
He said the AFP had approached Indonesian police because they were having difficulties gathering enough evidence against the nine.
"We were having problems with that too, so when there was evidence we arrested them," he said.
Mr Downer said the government would appeal for clemency for the nine if they were found guilty at trial, as it had already done for accused marijuana trafficker Schapelle Corby.
