Another AFP Bombshell

Abu Quassey - the organiser of the fatal SIEVX voyage on which 353 people lost their lives - due to be released from prison in Indonesia on 1 January after serving a 6 month sentence for minor immigration offences.

We say to the AFP and the Australian Government - this is the real test of your sincerity in regard to SIEVX. Bring Quassey to justice in Australia for his part in the mass killings of those on board the SIEVX. If you have nothing to fear from Quassey's evidence in an Australian court and what he might reveal about the Australian People Smuggling Disruption Program in Indonesia then you will find a way to bring him here.

by Marg Hutton
16 December 2002

Yesterday the Canberra Times ran a feature article by Kirsten Lawson which revealed a critical piece of new information. Lawson's interview with Australian Federal Police National Operations Manager Ben McDevitt included the admission that the AFP interviewed the Indonesian fishermen who rescued the SIEVX survivors. This information has never been provided before in any of the AFP's evidence to the Senate.

This raises serious questions about the Justice Minister's statement to Parliament last Thursday regarding the possibility of prosecuting for homicide the organiser of the SIEVX voyage, Abu Quassey:

In relation to a potential murder charge in either the Australian or Indonesian jurisdiction, the AFP has not been able to establish the location where SIEV X sank, therefore, it is not possible to establish the relevant jurisdiction for any prosecution relating to the deaths on board.[emphasis added]

Minister Ellison is drawing on one of the most disappointing and controversial findings of the CMI Inquiry, that the sinking position of SIEVX 'remains in doubt'.

We believe that the most authoritative document in regard to the sinking position of SIEVX is the offical Indonesian government report compiled by the Jakarta Harbormaster from information supplied by the fishermen who rescued the survivors. This document includes the coordinates of the rescue position - 07 40 00S, 105 09 00E - 51.5 nautical miles from the coast of Java, well outside the Indonesian territorial seas and within the Australian Operation Relex zone in international waters. The Harbor Master's Report is supported by two intelligence reports that went to Mr Howard and Mr Ruddock on the afternoon of 23 October last year.[1, 2]

There is no mention of the Jakarta Harbor Master's report in the CMI Report, despite the fact that a copy was provided to the Defence Department and it now appears that the information that it contained was also made available to the AFP.

When did the AFP interview the Indonesian fishermen?

Why wasn't the information given to the CMI Inquiry in July or Senate Estimates in November?

How can they claim they don't know where SIEVX sank when they have interviewed the people who can pinpoint the location of the rescue?

Who does the AFP think it is fooling?

The clock is still ticking...

Other SIEVX News

Letters to the Australian
Where have all the flowers gone? ~ Margo Kingston (Web Diary)
Smoke & Mirrors Conceals Machinery of Death... Caron Eliot ~ AusNews
Post a message of remembrance for the victims and survivors on our SIEVX memorial page