Sarah Stephen
Mahmod Salem Yussef, an Iraqi refugee now living in Brisbane on a temporary protection visa, told the Brisbane Magistrates Court on April 6 that he saw armed Indonesian police on the beach at Cipanas in Indonesia and in small boats ferrying passengers onto the SIEV-X refugee boat in October 2001.
SIEV-X capsized in the Royal Australian Navy search and rescue zone on October 19, 2001, leading to the drowning of 353 Middle Eastern asylum seekers.
Yussef told the court that he begged Abu Quassey, the organiser of the fatal trip, to take some of the people off the boat.
Yussef was testifying at the trial of Khaleed Shnayf Daoed, a 37-year-old Iraqi accused of selling tickets and helping organise the journey of SIEV-X, as well as an earlier boat trip with 147 people on board that arrived safely at Christmas Island in August 2001.
Daoed was extradited to Australia from Sweden in November last year. The committal hearing, which heard witnesses on April 5-7, will determine whether there is sufficient evidence for Daoed to stand trial.
Brisbane's Refugee Action Collective stated in an April 5 media release: "Considerable circumstantial evidence points to possible Australian government involvement in the sinking of the vessel and the long delay in rescuing survivors.
"The prime minister lied about where vessel sank, saying it sank in Indonesian waters (it foundered within Australia's surveillance zone). Senator Robert Hill barred senior defence staff from appearing at the Senate inquiry investigating the tragedy. Crucial evidence was withheld from the Senate inquiry. Australian Federal Police informant Kevin Eniss publicly admitted to arranging the scuttling of people smuggling boats with people on board."
Interviewed on Byron Bay's BAY FM current affairs program, former Australian ambassador to Poland and Cambodia and SIEV-X whistleblower Tony Kevin explained his hope that the trial would delve much further into circumstances of the SIEV-X voyage than was necessary to convict Daoed.
Kevin said that "when it comes to the trial proper, all that the crown will have to do is to show that Mr Daoed sold tickets. And that could be enough to put Mr Daoed away for a very long time. Whether or not Mr Daoed was involved in acts of sabotage and acts of intended homicide will not necessarily matter in terms of the conduct of the trial proper."
The committal hearing was adjourned until July 21, with up to 20 witnesses still to give evidence.
From Green Left Weekly, April 21, 2004.
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