Bali- Federal Police on a mission for Scott Rush

Editors Note: Later this morning the life of Bali Nine suspect Scott Rush Is on the line with an appeal from his death sentence.

We pray that the Bali Judges will be compassionate and drop the death sentence in liew of a lesser sentence.

This young wayward Australian deserves a second chance and it would be very good public relations for Bali & Indonesia if leniency was shown towards him.

We wish you good luck Scott may common sense prevail.

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIU-DGw4KPvoP8SA9xTbLgpYXt-Ihlr7J9Pk8sGxNYfYeqL3KXeffCOfioXYVrt0bNCrCOHKBvClFEnOBiwUTUYs-VmGgMSI9-wa_4dj9VtwPPCYoKIrJhE_0Wss805JuGC0qVN4jQsqg/s1600/Bali-News-scott-rush.jpg">

Scott Rush

Death row ... Scott Rush / Pic: AFP Source: AFP

TWO high ranking Australian Federal Police have arrived in Bali and will today give testimony that could save the life of Bali Nine heroin courier Scott Rush.

Mick Keelty was commissioner when the AFP gave crucial intelligence about the smugglers' presence in Bali to their Indonesian counterparts.

Now he and the man who led the Bali Nine investigation, Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan, will appear as witnesses for the defence as 24-year-old Rush, from Brisbane, appeals the death sentence he was given in 2006.

Rush's Jakarta-based lawyer Frans Winarta said it was important to show that Rush was only a minor player.

"He prepared his passport only a few days before his departure [to Bali] and that strengthens the theory that he is not the mastermind but he is only the courier," Dr Winarta said.

The AFP chiefs are among five witnesses expected to testify today but Rush himself is not expected to appear in Denpasar District Court.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related Coverage

* Police bosses to testify for Rush Adelaide Now, 3 hours ago
* AFP steps up to speak for Bali Nine mule The Australian, 9 hours ago
* Keelty to testify at final Rush appeal The Australian, 19 hours ago
* Keelty on mercy mission Herald Sun, 8 days ago
* My life is in your hands: Rush The Australian, 26 Aug 2010

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

His lawyers have not asked for him to be brought from his cell to the court.

Mr Keelty, who is now retired from the AFP and who lectures at universities, and Mr Phelan, are expected to testify that Rush played only a minor role in the Bali Nine heroin syndicate.

He was merely a courier, had no knowledge of the operation or its scope and was on his first trip outside Australia when he was arrested in 2005, they will say.

Both men have provided statements which form part of the defence case filed with the courts.

Rush's lawyers submit that the statements from the AFP, together with their oral testimony to the court this week, are the new evidence needed to win a judicial review and reduction of his sentence.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/federal-police-on-a-mission-for-scott-rush/story-e6freuzr-1225924327665

The new evidence, had it been known at the time of Rush's conviction, should have been capable of resulting in a lesser sentence.