After high-drama capture, Haas’ life all but rests in the hands of Australian diplomats

Manila: The Philippine government will involve Australia in a potentially life-or-death decision about what to do with accused drug trafficker Gregor Haas, raising the prospect of a diplomatic solution that could spare him the worst of Indonesian justice.

The father of Brisbane Broncos NRL star Payne Haas faces execution if he is extradited to Indonesia and convicted there. He is accused of sending five kilograms of methamphetamine from Mexico to Indonesia in a shipment of ceramic tiles, which was intercepted on December 11 last year.

Haas was arrested in the Philippines last week in a dramatic and highly planned joint operation between local police and a contingent of Indonesian investigators who had travelled to Cebu City for the sting.

In a possible high-stakes test for the Albanese government, the case has the makings of a diplomatic tangle between Indonesia, Australia and middleman the Philippines.

Indonesia, which also alleges Haas to be part of Mexico’s infamous Sinaloa Cartel, desperately wants him to face its home courts, which have handed out death sentences for far less. Albanese has promised to try to avoid this outcome.

The Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) said it was possible that Haas could be deported directly to Australia. This would deeply offend the Indonesians: it would mean their work tracking him down in Cebu was for nothing. Another option was for Haas to be sent to Indonesia on the condition he wouldn’t be killed if found guilty.

Without an intervention by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Haas’ future will be decided in weeks or months by the three-member board of commissioners within the BI.

“This is a big case already for Australia and it’s also a big case for Indonesia,” BI spokeswoman Dana Sandoval told this masthead on Monday.

“We’re actually surprised that this is making headlines because, at first, we thought it was just a regular arrest of a fugitive. But we found out this is going to be quite big, and it could mean diplomatic consideration. We are looking into these considerations before we make a decision.”

Haas arrived in the Philippines on a tourist visa on December 6. This was five days before Indonesian authorities discovered the alleged shipment of drugs sent from Guadalajara, Mexico. The Philippines became aware of his wanted status on March 22, but did not arrest him until May 15.

Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) spokeswoman Dana Sandoval.Credit: Edward Stephan Bungabung

Family have visited him in the Manila detention centre where he is being held. Sandoval said there were no adverse reports about his mental health since his arrest.

The Philippines did not need to consult Australia about what to do with Haas but would do so anyway as a matter of goodwill, she said.

Australia and the Philippines have been drawn closer in the last 12 months because of increasing Chinese aggression in the region, and particularly the South China Sea, known locally and parochially as the West Philippine Sea.

Indonesian authorities told this masthead last week it expected “no problem” in securing Haas’ extradition. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs would not comment because of “privacy obligations”. It was unclear if officials from the embassy in Manila had paid Haas a visit.

Australian involvement in the Philippines’ decision would be a good first step for Haas. Possibly working against him, however, was the pressure on Marcos Jr to secure the release of citizen Mary Jane Veloso, who has been on death row in Indonesia for more than a decade on highly contested claims of drug smuggling.

ANU international law professor Donald Rothwell warned Haas could be used as a bargaining chip in efforts to bring Veloso home. Sandoval said she was not in a position to comment.

The Philippines is a signatory to Second Optional Protocol on International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. On face value, this would prevent the nation sending Haas to his potential death.

Sandoval, however, said the terms of deportation were “still up for discussion”.

“The reason why we are deporting him is because he is a fugitive from justice,” she said. “We don’t look at the penalties that are going to be imposed … the fact he’s a fugitive from justice makes him an undesirable alien.”

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