The Australian
written by Nicolas Perpitch
Monday October 22, 2012
IRANIAN - Australian man Ali Khorram Heydarkhani has been sentenced to 14 years' jail after becoming the first person convicted of aggravated people-smuggling for recklessly endangering asylum-seekers' lives, including those on the boat which crashed into Christmas Island, killing 50 people.
During sentencing in the West Australian District Court today, Justice Stephen Scott said Heydarkhani, 41, was not concerned with the asylum-seekers' safety and was motivated primarily by money, placing him in the worst category of offenders.
He warned other people smugglers to "expect our community to impose severe sentences on them" in the hope of deterrence.
Despite Heydarkhani's guilty plea on what was to be the first day of his trial in September, Justice Scott said he was not convinced he was genuinely remorseful.
He told the court this was demonstrated by the fact that days after SIEV 221 smashed against the cliffs of Christmas Island in December, 2010, Heydarkhani organised another boat of asylum-seekers, on SIEV 226, to travel to Australia.
That boat was extremely unseaworthy and as a former seaman, Heydarkhani would have also known how unsafe the weather conditions were at that time of the year.
"You knew there were risks of bad weather," Justice Scott said.
"SIEV 221 had just foundered with the loss of 50 lives.
"I am satisfied you did not have concern for any of the passengers on any of these boats and your primary motivation was financial reward."
Heydarkhani pleaded guilty to a total of four people-smuggling charges, including two counts of aggravated people-smuggling where his conduct recklessly placed the lives of passengers at risk. These counts related to SIEV 221 and SIEV 226.
The offences took place between June 2010 and January 2011.
Justice Scott said Heydarkhani, a former refugee who gained Australian citizenship in 2004, played an essential role in the people-smuggling operation.
He recruited passengers, lied to them about the poor condition of the boats, even telling some they were "luxurious", took their passports and mobile phones off them and took their money in payment, the court was told.
"Your conduct ... places you in the worst category of offending," Justice Scott said.
Heydarkhani was arrested in Indonesia in January 2011 and voluntarily returned to Australia. Along with his guilty plea, the lack of need for extradition were taken in mitigation.
He will be eligible for parole in July 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment