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Wave goodbye to Aussie law

By Michael Bosscher - posted Friday, 2 September 2005


But perhaps the most important thing we can do to help Australians travelling overseas is through education - especially getting the message through to travelling "20-somethings".

Their generation in the 1970s quickly learned the lesson of American Billy Hayes, who was caught smuggling hash in Turkey and imprisoned there. His story, dramatised in the film Midnight Express, became a touchstone for young travellers around the world.

Today's young travellers, born after the movie and its lessons had gone into the video vaults, need to be reminded that it can be a cruel world out there - and that they are not invulnerable to its dangers.

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Not only can the justice systems in other countries be completely different from Australia's, the penalties can also be far more severe, especially for any offences involving drugs.

Indonesia has been the focus of much of the recent debate about Australians facing trial. Indonesia has harsh penalties for drug offences - from lengthy prison terms for even a small quantity of drugs, to death by firing squad.

Speculation that the Indonesian prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the Bali Nine raises the spectre of a tragic event in the 1980s when Australians Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers were executed by the Malaysian Government, for possessing less than 150g of heroin.

Do our young travellers know of Barlow and Chambers or have they learnt the lessons from their tragedy? It was a significant event of its day, but how well are the lessons ingrained in the psyche of our young travellers today?

The news media, through reporting the experiences of Australians facing drug charges abroad, has brought the issue of travel dangers into the public consciousness – but are the lessons being learned?

In the meantime, the clamour in talkback radio and the gossip over the office water cooler continues to insist the Australian Government "do more" for Aussies facing foreign prisons or worse.

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The reality is simple - we can't do more. We cannot send in the SAS. We cannot try to subvert another country's criminal justice system. And we cannot demand that the person be tried under our justice system.

Education and awareness are the best things we can do - if they make young people take extra security precautions while travelling, or avoid situations that could see them facing court, Australia will have prepared them well for their adventures abroad.

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First published in The Courier-Mail on August 25, 2005.



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About the Author

Michael Bosscher is managing partner of Brisbane-based national criminal defence law firm Ryan & Bosscher Lawyers.

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