Sarah Stephen
The trial of accused people-smuggler Khaleed Daoed began in the Brisbane Supreme Court on May 18. Daoed faces up to 20 years' jail for his involvement in the ill-fated SIEV X voyage in 2001, when a boatload of asylum seekers sank in international waters south of Java drowning 353 people.
The mastermind of the voyage and central figure in the people-smuggling trade in Indonesia in 2001, Abu Quassey, was tried in secret and sentenced to seven years in an Egyptian jail — five for "accidental manslaughter" and two for people smuggling, which means he got around one week for each of the people who died on SIEV X.
At the commencement of Daoed's trial, judge Phil McMurdo warned the jury to put aside any political or personal views they had about the government's immigration policy and the situation facing refugees in Australia. He also told jurors that Daoed was not on trial for causing the deaths, adding it was irrelevant to the proceedings. Counsel for the defence and the prosecution are keeping their questioning narrowly focused on survivors' contact with Daoed, and allowing them little leeway to talk about other aspects of the voyage.
This trial has been awaited eagerly by those who have campaigned — to date unsuccessfully — for a full judicial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the SIEV X sinking. SIEV X whistleblower Tony Kevin wrote on May 11: "I believe this could be an historically significant trial. It is the first time that important parts of the SIEV X history might be legally scrutinised in a normal Australian courtroom. For the first time, the challenge will be to our own Australian legal system — not the Indonesian, and not the Egyptian — to see whether justice is done and seen to be done, in the case of the alleged people smuggler and Abu Quassey's right-hand-man, Khaleed Daoed."
It is significant that a number of SIEV X survivors have been brought to Brisbane to give evidence. Commonwealth crown prosecutor Glen Rice told the court that 14 of the 45 passengers rescued after the sinking will give evidence alleging Daoed's involvement. They include Iraqis who were granted refugee status in Finland, New Zealand and Australia.
An Iraqi survivor, Sadeq Razaq al Abodie, told the court that Daoed played a leading role in arranging the SIEV X voyage, telling him and other Iraqis the price would be between US$800 and $1000. He said he had handed over a deposit and that Daoed and his friend had ticked off names, organised transport and met the passengers at cheap hotels.
Survivors also confirmed that Quassey had a close collaborative relationship with members of the Indonesian police and coast guard. Karim al Saaedy told the court: "Four or five of us confronted Abu Quassey because we wanted to know when the boat was going to leave. We were introduced to an officer who was in charge of coastal guards in Sumatra. (Quassey) said: 'This officer is with the coast guard and also the Indonesian police is with us and just give us some time and hopefully we will be moving, God willing'."
The trial is expected to last at least three weeks.
From Green Left Weekly, May 25, 2005.
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