Scott Rush: Bali Nine smuggler’s desperate plea in heartfelt letter
He has spent 14 years behind bars for his role in the doomed Bali Nine drug-smuggling plot. This is the letter that Scott Rush hopes will deliver his freedom.
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Exclusive: With a deep social conscious and pledging to devote his life to anti-drugs campaigning, this is the letter Bali Nine member Scott Rush hopes will deliver his freedom.
The remorseful Queenslander, who has spent 14-years behind bars for his part in the doomed 2005 heroin-smuggling plot, has put pen to paper, pleading for his life sentence to be reduced to 20 years.
In the very personal document supporting his clemency bid, revealed last week by News Corp, the 34-year-old pledges to make a positive contribution to society.
“I sincerely apologise to the government and citizens of Indonesia for the shameful impact
my action caused to the country of Indonesia and its people. I hope my deepest apology is
acceptable and I can be forgiven, as I fully regret my deeds,” he wrote from his prison cell in
east Bali’s Karangasem.
Half a decade ago Rush desperately requested a transfer from the appalling Kerobokan jail,
which is known to be awash with drugs, to the jail he now calls home to avoid the narcotics
that were crippling his life inside.
Now the one-time drug mule has made public that he plans to become an anti-drugs envoy
to make a positive contribution to society.
“Firstly, to prevent people from taking drugs by warning them of the associated dangers,
and secondly, to help people who have a drug problem to rehabilitate. This may, in a small
way, repay Indonesia for the help that has been given to me,” he said.
He thanks the staff and administration of Bali’s Bangli Narcotics Prison for helping his own
rehabilitation from drugs dependency.
“I now understand the damage drugs do to an individual, family, society and the country. I
understand that drugs lead to no jobs, no money and no family. I support the tremendous
anti-drug campaign the Indonesian Government is doing in publicising the destruction drugs
do to a country’s society,” he wrote.
Rush’s parents Lee and Christine Rush, who have fought for their son even before his arrest
by tipping off the Australian Federal Police about their suspicions that he was about to
traffic drugs, have also written a letter. Theirs is to Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
“We hope that you can see how much Scott has grown while he has been in custody, and
that he is a good person. We hope for you to give him a second chance,’’ the couple wrote.
They tell the President of their son’s deep remorse and how each day is an emotional
struggle for them and of the relentless nightmares and sleeplessness they both suffer.
“Our son made the wrong decision many years ago when he was just a nineteen-year-old
adolescent. He is now a wise and mature 34-year-old man who has taken responsibility for
the mistake he made and has shown deep remorse and regret every day,” the letter reads.
Rush was arrested in 2005 at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International airport with 1.3kg of heroin
strapped to his body, destined for Australia. In February 2006 he was sentenced to life
behind bars, then on appeal later that year he was handed the death penalty which was
commuted back to life in 2011.
The ringleaders of the botched plan Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed
by firing squad on Indonesia’s Nusa Kambangan in 2015 after years of being model prisoners
at Kerobokan jail.
Australia’s ambassador in Jakarta, Gary Quinlan, has written a statement outlining how
Rush is a well behaved and a co-operative inmate.
“Mr Rush has guaranteed to us that he will continue to demonstrate good behaviour, to be
cooperative with prison officials, to not attempt to escape detention, to comply with
Indonesian regulations and to not reoffend should he be successful in his sentence
conversion application to convert from a lifetime sentence to a fixed term sentence,” Mr
Quinlan wrote.
Rush’s strategy is risky, given an earlier attempt resulted in his life sentence being upgraded to a death sentence (it was later changed back).
The application will be reviewed by the Indonesian Correctional Board and if successful,
it will be referred to the Ministry which will either grant or deny the request.
He could be released in 2026.
Originally published as Scott Rush: Bali Nine smuggler’s desperate plea in heartfelt letter
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