Call for campaign against death penalty

The federal government must take a "strong and principled" approach to opposing the death penalty whenever and wherever it is applied, former ALP national president Barry Jones told a public forum attended by more than 100 people on April 19. The forum was organised by Australians Against Capital Punishment.

The AACP was established by Lee and Christine Rush as part of their campaign for clemency for their son. Scott Rush was arrested in Bali in April 2005 by Indonesian authorities, acting on information from the Australian Federal Police.

Lee Rush addressed the forum and pointed out that his son, and the other "drug mules", were being punished harshly, while the real organisers of the international drug trade were largely untouched. Other speakers included associate professor Patrick Keyzer, Tim Goodwin from Amnesty International and Reverend David Pitman from the Uniting Church.

From GLW issue 707