Has Labor made another people-swap? | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog
Indonesia in April proposes a deal:
After all, this is a Government that’s already shown it’s in the people swap business, with its proposed people-swap with Malaysia.
So how much is this Government guided by the rule of law and how much by the rules of politics?
Indonesia in April proposes a deal:
But justice minister Amir Syamsuddin said any decision on Corby should be reciprocated by Australia, which he said had “hundreds” of Indonesians in jail, mostly for people smuggling.Indonesia today suggests a deal was done:
“So if it’s clear that we are paying attention to the plight of Corby, in reciprocity we hope there will be the same kind of attention from there (Australia),” he said.
Indonesia’s minister for the state secretriat, Sudi Silalahi, said Mr Yudhoyono cut Corby’s prison term on humanitarian grounds.Foreign Minister Bob Carr denies it, kind of:
But he also described the decision is also part of a reciprocal arrangement with Australia, which has already returned some young Indonesians accused of crewing asylum seeker boats.
“It’s not just a promise. Many have been followed through and they’ve already returned,” he said.
Indonesia’s law and human rights minister, Amir Syamsudin, said the cut to Corby’s prison term should encourage Australia to release more young Indonesians held on people smuggling charges.
If there were no Schapelle Corby in a Balinese prison we’d still be releasing minors, kids on fishing boats who’d been collected through people smuggling… At no stage has the Government sat down with our Indonesian counterparts and said ‘We’ll release minors from our jails if you consider a clemency application for Ms Corby’. But, if doing what we’re doing for the right reasons has created a level of comfort in the government in Indonesia, then that’s fine by me. That’s a good thing.It seems that Australia had no formal deal to swap people smugglers for a lighter sentence for Corby, but everything suggests an “understanding”.
After all, this is a Government that’s already shown it’s in the people swap business, with its proposed people-swap with Malaysia.
So how much is this Government guided by the rule of law and how much by the rules of politics?
